forgiveness

Your Prayer Is Bound By Love

/ Nancy Ann Creed / 1 Comment
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Your Prayer Is Bound By Love

When darkness falls upon a soul you know,
And misconduct is the seed that they sow,
When actions pierce the better self you see,
And they depart from how they ought to be,
A higher call demands your swift response,
Beyond the simple bitterness of offense.

Specifically, when they project their strife,
Inflicting turmoil on another life,
When pain and discontent are thrust outside,
And unkindness is the path where they ride—
And when their negativity is aimed at you,
The target of the anger they accrue—
The time for action is not a fight,
But deep engagement in the spirit’s light.
The clear command is given from above:
You should pray. Your prayer is bound by love.

This is a prayer with purpose dual-faced,
For strength to face the hurt that is embraced.
Pray earnestly to guard your inner soul,
For wisdom, grace, and to achieve your goal:
To stand against injustice, firm and true,
Lest roots of bitterness take hold of you.
And simultaneously, with fervent heart,
Pray unceasingly to heal their broken part.

Petition for their spirit’s restoration,
For sight, repentance, and illumination.
Pray for their clarity, that the dark fog
That clouds their judgment might begin to jog.
May truth reveal the nature of their deed,
The bitter pain that plants the hurtful seed.

Your prayer’s an act of purity and might,
A divine request for what is good and right.
Pray that the toxic urge to hold offense,
All hatred, vengeance, and poor recompense,
Be fully purged from where your feelings lie.
Pray that true peace, the peace that reaches high,
That surpasses knowledge, may reside within,
A shield against the chaos and the sin.
And pray for grace to grant them full release,
To find compassion for their lack of peace,
Recognizing that the hurt they impart
Is but a symptom of their wounded heart.

You know the truth; denial finds no space,
A certainty of wrong you have to face.
They operate outside their healthy sphere,
Not as the self they ought to hold so dear.
You know they act as wounded, lost, and frail,
Beyond a doubt, they stumble and they fail.
Given this truth, this knowledge you possess,
Your duty is to fully intercess.
You need to pray.

This sacred work requires commitment strong,
Independent of who says that you are wrong.
You need to pray, though you are ostracized,
Misunderstood, or wholly unadvised.
You need to pray, though they who cause the woe
Discourage faith and bid your efforts slow.
Resolve within, in the core of your deep soul,
That you will never yield to their control.
Let your prayer be a sanctuary, ever near,
A tireless beacon, banishing all fear,
For your own soul, and for the troubled one
Whose inner struggle means the harm is done.

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Let You Back In

/ Nancy Ann Creed / Leave a comment

The wound still aches, a whisper of your name,
A tethered scar, etched deep with burning shame.
You breached the wall I built with stones of trust,
Leaving me shattered, scattered into dust.

Yet, here I stand, with open arms outstretched,
An olive branch, a fragile peace confessed.
Not for your sake, but mine, this choice I make,
To shed the chains of anger, for my own heart’s sake.

Forgiveness, not forgetting, but a gentle shift,
To mend the broken pieces, with a hopeful lift.
It may be foolish, some may say I’m weak,
But holding onto hurt, only leaves my spirit bleak.

I invite you back, not to erase the wrong,
But face the truth, where we both may belong.
To understand the reasons, mend the fray,
And build a bridge, where trust might bloom someday.

This path I choose, is fraught with uncertainty,
But holding onto hate, keeps me a prisoner to thee.
So with a prayer, a whisper on the breeze,
I hope this choice of mine will bring me inner peace.

For even though you hurt me, deep and true,
The chance to heal resides within us two.
And though the scars may linger, ever faint,
I choose to rise above, and paint a future, unconstrained.

Forgiveness

/ Nancy Ann Creed / Leave a comment
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Forgiveness

To forgive is not to forget,
But to let go of the pain,
To release the anger and the hate,
And to open your heart again.

It is not to condone the wrong that was done,
But to choose to love,
Even when it is difficult,
Even when it feels like you cannot.

Forgiveness is a gift,
A gift to yourself,
A gift to the other person,
And a gift to the world.

It is the key to healing,
The key to freedom,
The key to peace.

So choose to forgive,
Even when it is hard,
Even when you don’t think you can.

Forgive for yourself,
Forgive for the other person,
And forgive for the world.

And in forgiving,
You will find healing,
You will find freedom,
You will find peace.

Can’t We Be Friends

/ Nancy Ann Creed / 1 Comment
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Can’t we be friends despite it all,
Despite the others, just you and me?
Can’t we forget the things that fall
Between us, and be happy free?

Forget the words we’ve said in spite,
The looks that hurt us, and the tears;
Forget the past, and let us write
A new and brighter page of years.

We’ve known the joy of friendship true,
And felt the warmth of love’s caress;
We’ve shared the sorrows and the dew
Of life, and known its bitter stress.

Why should we let the past destroy
The friendship that we hold so dear?
Why should we let the shadows cloy
The sunshine of our lives so clear?

Let’s rise above the petty strife
That clouds our lives with clouds of care;
Let’s clasp our hands and make a strife
Of love and friendship everywhere.

Let’s build anew our shattered dream,
And make our lives a thing of worth;
Let’s live for each other, and redeem
The past by love that knows no dearth.

Can’t we be friends despite it all,
Despite the others, just you and me?
Can’t we forget the things that fall
Between us, and be happy free?

What to do?

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What to do?
Have you ever wanted to talk to someone who you are mad at?
Have you ever waited a while and found out you are not as mad as you were before?
Then have you ever thought, maybe they should talk to me first.
Then have you ever thought, maybe I am better off without this person in my life?

What does forgiveness entail?
Do I have to tell them I forgive them?
Do I have to explain why I was upset?
Do I have to beg the person, even though I think I was the one in the right?

Why can’t I let things just be?
Why can’t I let things rest?
Why can’t this be easy?
Why can’t I be normal?

Time to Move on

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I hang on longer than most. 
My hands will bleed, blisters will form.
Scraps and cuts do not bother me.
But once I am done, I will not go back.

My skin is torn, there is blood on my shirt.
My grip is tight, it strains my arms.
I call out for help, as the grip loosens.
But once I am done,  I will not return.

It might take several times, it might take years. 
The scars will heal, the blisters fade, but the memory lives on.
 I hold on again, but I do not stay long. 
But once I am done, there is not going back,

I hung on longer than you did.
My hands bleed and the blisters broke, 
But once that branch breaks, I am done.

You can only hang on to people for so long.
Before you lose your grip. 
You look at your hands and remember how pretty they were,
Before the blood, scars and blisters.
You remember how happy you were once, 
And you know it is time to move on.

Check out Nancy’s new book:

Seventy Times Seventy

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You push me away,  
And keep me at bay.  
Over and over again,  
The same old song plays. 

Seventy times seventy.  
That's what they say.  
Forgive and move on,  
Until a new dawn.  
You push me away  

But I pray every day.  
I know your heart  
You're dying inside.  

Seventy times seventy  
That's what they say.  
Forgive and move on  
Until a new dawn.   

Forgive

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Why do we let the same people hurt us over and over again? 
Why can't we see what's coming at us? 
Why can't we move out of the way and not let that train hit us? 
We hear the train racing down the track. 
We let it hit us, time and time again. 

We get hit so many times, that we say 
It's ok. 
I'm used to it 
or it's fine. 
Then we apologize to the person who hurt us. 

Time and time again the same scenario 
Forgive and forget 
Forgive and move on 
But are your walls now up? 
Are you cautious now? 
Or do we let the same pain and suffering in again? 

Why do we forgive and why do we let people back in? 
It is fair to let people in, but only at a distance? 
Does it make us an awful person to not allow them back in? 
Does grace mean letting them in too? 
or does it just mean not carrying the anger around with us? 

We offer compassion but where is our bliss? 
Where’s our peace and joy? 

Do we protect ourselves, or for the sake of grace, allow them back in.Â