You got any questions? Any comments? Did any dots get connected for you?
I'll quote the great Don Henley:
What are these voices outside love's open door
That make us throw off our contentment and beg for something more?
I've been trying to get down/ to the heart of the matter
And my flesh gets weak/ and my thoughts seem to scatter
But I think it's about... forgiveness.
First off...great start last night. I'm super pumped to be undertaking this journey with all of you.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about everyone's perspective around extending forgiveness, specifically around the process we will be undergoing in our small group. I have some people in my life I probably could spend hours upon hours cranking through a laundry list of grievances (parents, myself).
I agree that going into detail is important, but starting out, would it be better off to go a mile deep (a few people, but really digging in) or a mile wide (lots of people, and just skimming the surface)?
I agree, Brett. It's better to get the big stones out of the way, and spend time with your small group on the biggies. Talking about the guy who cut you off in traffic probably wouldn't be the best use of the small group time. Remember, you've got about 40 minutes max to talk about your junk.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing to consider is that, while doing this stuff as a small group will be significant, it's really just going to develop your forgiving muscles. You're going to have to do a lot more forgiving than just a couple of hours' worth. What we want to do is, as much as possible, get free from the past (again, at least the big chunks) so that we can start going forward "clean": without the past getting up in our faces and screwing us over. So this is just about finally dealing with old garbage that's been hanging on- it will NOT be the last word on forgiveness in any of our lives. It's just the beginning!