None of us alive today personally carried out the great injustices of our history. We did not commit the genocide of Native Americans, enforce Jim Crow laws, or place Japanese Americans in camps. We did not enslave people as property. Yet, we all live in a world that in part, those acts created. 

Those who have been sexually abused find great healing in therapies designed for these specific issues. Over the years, exercises and techniques have been developed that move the client along to confront their fears, shame, anger, and hatred. Eventually, the person refuses to allow the perpetrator one more minute of robbing them of their happiness and peace. This is a turning point in this therapy because they see a way forward with freedom from the attachment to anger, which paradoxically binds them to the perpetrator. Forgiveness is the highest form of detachment and resolution. 

In my work with dear souls who have been abused, the issue of forgiveness comes up regularly. Many victims simply cannot comprehend how their parent or anyone could harm an innocent child. Many are victims of sexual abuse. The memories of this and the heartache it causes are profound, long-lasting, and in many cases, life-altering. The continuing hurt makes the abuse even more difficult to forgive and to put in the past. 

As reflected about yesterday, we need divine super qualities to do things we cannot do on our own. So, forgiveness and self-forgiveness require divine qualities of self-compassion and grace, which the ego and personal willpower alone cannot supply. This is done through a process of spiritual alchemy. 

The spiritual road to self-forgiveness takes its own path. When regret weighs heavily on us, we may try to make amends, but even then, guilt often lingers. Even when we know God has forgiven us, we may hold on to the guilt. What we truly long for is resolution within our own soul; we want to feel free and at peace again. This requires extending to ourselves the grace of forgiveness.

One of the most challenging forms of forgiveness is often self-forgiveness. When we cross a line and hurt someone intentionally or unintentionally, it is natural to hold it against ourselves. When it comes to forgiving, many of us are much harder on ourselves than we are on others.

Our inner peace is heaven-sent. Of course, we must make room for it, ask for it, and protect it, but it is there. It is a real treasure in this noisy, hasty, demanding, and stressful world. I like to think the Creator placed a peaceful place inside each of us so we would never forget heaven’s peace. It is like a bit of heaven within. Some describe it as the Holy of Holies inside themselves; others, as the calm core at the very center of their being.

When we dare to imagine creatively, we tap into heaven, which is the source of all creativity. Every creative idea is heaven-sent. Imagination takes us beyond ordinary thought, beyond the constraints and limitations that keep us locked into “what is.” Too often we tell ourselves, “That’s not possible,” and we shut down the path that might have led to something new. But in genuine imagination, we let go of all limitations and open ourselves to the unbelievable, the impossible, and the unimaginable.

Why would we need or want something that is heaven-sent? Don’t we already have enough on this side of heaven? Isn’t the world sufficient without anything else coming from above? Aren’t the goodness, mercy, compassion, and love in our hearts enough to see us through? 

For me, our back porch is heaven-sent. It looks out over the backyard, shaded by tall oaks and a huge magnolia tree. On the porch is comfortable seating, and most important of all, a hummingbird feeder that draws tiny visitors throughout the day.

Whenever I think of something heaven-sent, it is always something that came to me unexpectedly yet was just what I needed. Early in my private psychology practice, when I needed a partner to share office rent and expenses, the right person showed up at just the right time. And in those years when money was tight, out of the blue, opportunities to earn extra income seemed to present themselves exactly when I most needed them. These were heaven-sent.

When was the last time you experienced someone who was heaven-sent—someone who entered your life out of sheer grace? They weren’t earned, deserved, or arranged. They came as a pure gift, a blessing dropped directly from above.

Something heaven-sent comes from a source of goodness beyond us. Often, it is an unexpected gift we hope for but may think impossible to actually receive. Then, seemingly out of the blue, it arrives—like a delivery from UPS (Upper Paradise Support). It is just what we ordered, and often even more.

Sometimes our biggest obstacle is another human being. It seems like if only they would change, we could be happy.

There are fixed laws that run the universe. These laws govern the sun, moon, tides, weather, and the cells of our body. No human being has ever altered these laws. They are the gears of the cosmos that were set in motion at the beginning and will continue infinitely. There are also spiritual laws that underlie the universe. These laws are based on the Law of Love.

Obstacles stand in our way. But what is our way? We can go the way of the fakir and live into our body. We can go the way of the monk and nun who live out of deep emotion, or we can go the way of the yogi and live from our mind. But there is a fourth way — the way of the rogue who not only lives out of the body, mind, and emotions, but out of a fourth component: our soul applied to our daily life. These ideas were presented by spiritual teacher George Gurdjieff (1877-1949). Gurdjieff, whose teachings are called The Fourth Way knew that relatively few of us would choose the way of the rogue. And the few who do are able to transcend the limitations of the ego. Amazingly, Gurdjieff’s teachings are consistent with those of Jesus.

Obstacles face us every day. One of the most powerful is our inner critic. The inner critic tears us down, deflates, criticizes, undermines, and discourages us. Its three biggest plans of attack are to shame us, anger us, and to instill fear.

The word obstacle comes from the Latin root “ob” which means “in front of” and the Latin root “stare” which means “to stand.” So, the word obstacle means “to stand in front of” and thereby “to block,” “thwart,” or “hinder the progress of.”