Refusing to forgive, as someone once said, is like eating rat poison and then waiting for the other person to die. Many of us, quietly or less so, have unresolved tension and wounds in our lives from some relationship, or from several. For many, the prospect of forgiveness is unthinkable, as if it would signal condoning the injurious behavior, or at least leave bad behavior unpunished. So, on we go, nursing our hurts, hauling our grudges wherever we go. This morning, let’s revisit forgiveness, and see what possibilities it might offer us, at this stage of the game.

Rev. Jake Morrill served the Oak Ridge UU Church in Oak Ridge Tennessee as Lead Minister for 19 years. A former member of the Boards of the UUA and the Church of the Larger Fellowship, he is currently a leadership coach and consultant with his company, Generation to Generation Leadership Coaching, working primarily with family-owned businesses to promote cultures of emotional maturity. He has published five books, one of them on forgiveness. Over the last twenty years, Jake has preached at UUSMV at least five or six times that he can remember (and once or twice, probably, that he can’t).

View our Order of Service here:  UUSMV OOS for July 7, 2024