Lessons on forgiveness from child's book.

  Right now we are reading about Egypt in our Story of the World curriculum so last night when we went to the library we gathered up books on Egypt so that we could dive further as the kids are really into reading about the pyramids and writing messages to each other in cuneiform.

  I picked up the book Pyramids! 50 Hands-On Activities to Experience Ancient Egypt by Avery Hart & Paul Mantell,

and this morning I started flipping through it.  Aside from all of the very cool activities and facts, this book also gives some amazing life lessons that I am in need of learning!  Yesterday we read about how after death the heart was weighed against a feather.  The heart was full of the deeds the person had done...bad deeds added weight but good deeds, like forgiveness, kept it light.

    I am sure I am not alone in my struggle to forgive people that I feel have done me wrong.  I also know that I do need to let go of these feelings because the only person that they affect is me.  This page jumped up from the book and smacked me across the face and I feel I must share it for anyone else in need of a good face smacking.

  
  "The people of old Egypt believed deeply in the power of forgiveness.  In their religion, it was not good to hold onto bad feelings like anger or guilt.  If someone did something wrong but felt sorry about it, the ancients believed that the gods instantly forgave the person.  The priests and pharaohs also urged people to forgive each other quickly when things went wrong between them.

  Thinking about having a heart free of anger and hate is a useful and good thing to do.  Do you have feelings you are ready to set free?  Forgiving people who have done wrong to us makes our hearts light and free.
  Test your power of forgiveness by making a list of people who make you angry.  When your list is finished, ask yourself if you have been angry long enough and can now forgive the person.  (If you have a hard time even thinking about forgiving the person, try forgiving yourself for being so angry and upset.  That sometimes works just as well.)
  When you have gone over your list, look at each name, close your eyes, and murmur these magical words:  "(Name), we are even.  I fully forgive you and free myself now."
  Cross out the name on the list and go on to the next one.  When your list is all crossed out, roll it into a ball and throw it away.  Hey!  We can practically see the big smile of relief on your face already!"


  Such a simple exercise but yet so freeing and empowering.