Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

You thought you knew the truth but it wasn’t there and it never will be until you know where to look… Make sure you see it, this is your life, make one mistake and it can easily be taken away. Some say our lives are defined by the sum of our choices, but it isn’t really our choices that distinguish who we are, it’s our commitment to them. There’s an old saying about those who can’t remember the past being condemned to repeat it. But those of us who refuse to forget the past are condemned to relive it. The past doesn’t equal the future.

Always question where your loyalties lie. The people you trust will expect it, your greatest enemies will desire it, and those you treasure the most will absolutely without fail abuse it. Some say loyalty inspires boundless hope and while that may be, there is a catch. True loyalty takes years to build and only seconds to destroy.

The greatest weapon anyone can use against us is our own mind, by preying on the doubts and uncertainties that already lurk there. Are we true to ourselves, or do we live for the expectations of others? And if we are open and honest, can we ever truly be loved? Can we find the courage to release our deepest secrets, or in the end, are we all unknowable? Even to ourselves.

A conflicted heart feeds on doubt, confusion. It will make you question your path. Your tactics. Your motives. When you stare ahead and darkness is all you see, only reason and determination can pull you back from the abyss. Truth is a battle of perceptions. People only see what they’re prepared to confront. It’s not what you look at that matters but what you see. And when different perceptions battle against one another, the truth has a way of getting lost. Doubt is a disease. It infects the mind, creating a mistrust of people’s motives and of one’s own perceptions. Doubt has the ability to call into question everything you ever believed about someone, and reinforce the darkest suspicions of our inner circles. If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as infinite.’ But in reality our perception is often clouded by expectations. By experiences.

When I was a little girl, my understanding of life was as simple as the Sunday school proverbs it lives within, ‘Do unto others’ and ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right.’ But two wrongs can never make a right, because two wrongs can never equal each other. For the truly wronged, real satisfaction can only be found in one of two places absolute forgiveness or mortal vindication. They say grief occurs in five stages. First, there’s denial, followed by anger. Then comes bargaining, depression and acceptance. But grief is a merciless master. Just when you think you’re free, you realize you never stood a chance.

Absolution is the washing away of sin, a promise of rebirth and a chance to escape the transgressions of those who came before us. The best among us will learn from the mistakes of the past. Absolution is the most powerful form of forgiveness. A full pardon from suspicion and accountability. It’s the liberation of a stolen future. A future many never lived to see. Absolution is a mercy some people will never know.