May Have Heard The Story
 E. Virginia Johnson

You May Have Heard The Story, of the teacher who asked each of her students to bring a plastic bag and a sack of potatoes to school; for

every person they refused to forgive, they were to choose a potato, write the person’s name on it, and put it in the plastic bag; some of their bags became quite heavy!

They were then told to carry this bag everywhere they went for one week, putting it beside the bed at night and on the car seat when driving; naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a nasty, smelly slime. This is great metaphor for the price we pay for holding on to our pain and negativity. Too often, we think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person, and clearly it is for ourselves.

What life does for us it must do through us; life is always at work and is limited only by our beliefs. Ernest Holmes reminds us. Selfish reasons alone, if from no loftier reason, we cannot afford to find fault, to hate, or even to hold in mind anything against any living soul! The god of love cannot hear the prayer of the one who fails to love

Are you tired of carrying around that stink sack of potatoes? Are you ready to create from forgiveness instead of resentment and hurt? Are you ready to value yourself enough to forgive?