Forgiveness . . .

I'm still working on my meditation stuff to present in some coherent form.  I also got some of it from a class and I want to make sure that I reference the ideas and where they come from.  So, I'm going to go to a slightly different topic for this week.

Forgiveness. . .   The concept of doing something "wrong" and then "atoning" for that act (or lack of an act in some cases) is fairly common in religions.  The concepts of what constitutes a "wrong" is different based on religion, culture, and personal moral values.  However, I think we can all agree that we do things that are "wrong" at times.  Weather that is being selfish and eating all the cookies when you could have shared them; standing by and watching someone get bullied without intervening; or yelling at your friend when you were angry and they didn't deserve your anger.  Whatever those "wrongs" are for us personally, they can infect our lives.  We can live our lives filled with regret, reliving those moments when we should have done something else.  Such "wrong" actions can ruin relationships and color our actions and thoughts for lifetimes.

I think that this is one of the reasons why many religions have instituted rituals surrounding forgiveness.  In Orthodoxy and Catholicism these rituals actually involve speaking one on one with someone (a priest) about the "wrongs" (which are codified by the religion) you have done and then receiving advice about the future and forgiveness from god.  In many Protestant Denominations there is a part of the service where people collectively are forgiven by god in ritual form after personally remembering their "wrongs". 

In Asian religions forgiveness also plays a role in ritual actions.  The earliest records for confession practices date to the Han dynasty in China (206 bce).  Writings include practices of recording confessions.  Buddhist confession rituals also have a long history first in India and then in China (dated to around 330 ce).  Again "sins" were ritually repented by the confessor and herd by other monks.  Cleansing rites involved in Taoism include kneeling confession of sins and recorded confessions.  See Konior for a little bit more on Asian confession rites.

In Judaism, ritual forgiveness in the times of the temple meant offering a physical sacrifice as a means of atonement.  Modern Judaism has prayer, fasting, and deeds of charity as ways of atonement and ritually during the calendar year yom-kippur exists to ask for forgiveness from those you have wronged and then seek forgiveness from god.  This is not a very inclusive list of forgiveness rituals, so please add (elaborate on) ones from your own traditions in the comments.

In most of these rituals, granting forgiveness can be just as important as repenting.  Therefore, these acts of asking for and receiving forgiveness appear to play an essential role in ritual and in removing the effects that these "wrongs" can have on our consciousness throughout our lives.  On that note, I participated in a fairly moving ritual at Hope Lutheran Church in Clinton, MD this past weekend that leads into a possible ritual for asking for and granting forgiveness in a non-religious context.

Everyone was able to go pick up a rock from one of the stands in the church.  These rocks were varied in size, shape, and color.  Then we held the rocks, thinking about the weight that our wrongs have inside of us.  We then went through prayers of confession and forgiveness, but you don't have to.  I could easily see a ritual where the group or family speaks aloud one wrong they have done during the week and ask the other members of the family for forgiveness.  Then we went and dropped the rocks in a can filled with water watching as the rocks fell and letting go of the things we were regretting.  I could see this as a weekly ritual around a table with a family.

Thoughts on forgiveness ritual?


Konior, Jan (2010). Confession rituals and the philosophy of forgiveness in asian religions and christianity. Forum Philosophicum: International Journal for Philosophy 15 (1).


http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0007_0_06619.html