Forgiveness
(This is an excerpt from University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
Help the child to move past the anger to the hurt and injustice which usually lies beneath. Have your child ask himself or herself what the other person might have been thinking or feeling. This helps children move past blame.
Practicing Forgiveness:
A Guided Imaginary Journey
(Create a quiet, peaceful environment in which children can sit or lie on the floor with their eyes closed.) Take a moment to stretch out your body, take a big yawn, and as you breathe out, just relax, let all tension release. Now sit comfortably, rest your body and with your eyes closed, take another deep breath and relax even further. Imagine you have the ability to, with your eyes closed, see inside other people, looking past their actions, looking past what they look like from the outside, to seeing them for who they truly are: beautiful, whole children of God (light, love, spirit, whatever word seems right to you.) You might imagine seeing a bright, shining heart radiating inside the body of the person you are envisioning. Now imagine you can look inside anyone and see this radiant heart, the beautiful inner light trying to shine through to the outside world. You can see each different person in your family in this way. Now remember a time recently when someone very close to you did something, and in response you became angry or hurt. See the person you feel angry with…imagine as you look at him or her that you can begin to see through the outside face they are showing you to the place inside their heart which is pure. Just notice what begins to happen to your anger when you focus on the inner beauty, Let the feelings of anger or hurt begin to melt, to soften as you watch this person’s light trying to shine through.
See yourself extend your hand to the other person, and see a bridge of light stream form your hand to his or her hand…when the bridge meets, imagine your heart shines pure and strong as well. Look into the eyes and see the eyes of a very wise being looking out at you from within this person. If you want to, you can envision being able to hug the person, feeling a sense of inner calm as you do. Now when you feel ready, slowly open your eyes and come back to the room. After this visualization you may want to draw a picture of what you imagined. Make sure you put yourself in the picture too.