#ene

Billos ran. He tore down the shore, bounded up on the rock, and dove into the air. The warm water engulfed him. A boiling heat knocked the wind from his lungs. The shock alone might kill him. But it was pleasure that surged through his body, not pain. The sensations coursed through his bones in great unrelenting waves. Elyon. How he was certain, he did not know. But he knew. Elyon was in this lake with him. Billos opened his eyes. Gold light drifted by. He lost all sense of direction. The water pressed in on every inch of his body, as intense as any acid, but one that burned with pleasure instead of pain. He sank into the water, opened his mouth and laughed. He wanted more, much more. He wanted to suck the water in and drink it. Without thinking, he did just that. The liquid hit his lungs. Billos pulled up, panicked. He tried to hack the water from his lungs, but inhaled more instead. No pain. He carefully sucked more water and breathed it out slowly. Then again, deep and hard. Out with a soft whoosh. He was breathing the water! Billos shrieked with laughter. He swam into the lake, deeper and deeper. The power contained in this lake was far greater than anything he'd ever imagined. "I made this, Billos." Billos whipped his body around, searching for the words' source. "Elyon?" His voice was muffled, hardly a voice at all. "Do you like it?" "Yes!" Billos said. He might have spoken; he might have shouted--he didn't know. He only knew that his whole body screamed it. Billos looked around. "Elyon?" "Why do you doubt me, Billos?" In that single moment the full weight of Billos's foolishness crashed on him like a sledgehammer. "I see you, Billos." "I made you." "I love you." The words crashed over him, reaching into the deepest folds of his flesh, caressing each hidden synapse, flowing through every vein, as though he had been given a transfusion. "I choose you, Billos." Billos began to weep. The feeling was more intense than any pain he had ever felt. The current pulled at him, tugging him up through the colors. His body trembled with pleasure. He wanted to speak, to yell, to tell the whole world that he was the most fortunate person in the universe. That he was loved by Elyon. Elyon himself. "Never leave me, Billos." "Never! I will never leave you." The current pushed him through the water and then above the surface not ten meters from the shore. He stood on the sandy bottom. For a moment he had such clarity of mind that he was sure he could understand the very fabric of space if he put his mind to it. He was chosen. He was loved.

— Ted Dekker

#christian #elyon #forgiveness #renegade #the-lost-books

The fourth gift is Compassion. May you be gentle with yourself and others. May you forgive those who hurt you and yourself when you make mistakes. ↗

— Charlene Costanzo

#character-building #compassion #forgiveness #inspiration #forgiveness

A few regular troops from old France, weakened by hunger and sickness, who, when fresh, were unable to withstand the British soldiers, are their general's chief dependence. ↗

— James Wolfe

#chief #dependence #few #france #fresh

Crown Of Love They say it fades if you let it, love was made to forget it. i carved your name across my eyelids, you pray for rain i pray for blindness. if you still want me, please forgive me, the crown of love is not upon me. if you still want me, please forgive me, because the spark is not within me. i snuffed it out before my mom walked in my bedroom. the only thing that you keep changin' is your name. my love keeps growin' still the same, just like cancer, and you won't give me a straight answer! if you still want me, please forgive me, the crown of love has fallen from me. if you still want me, please forgive me, because your hands are not upon me. i shrugged them off before my mom walked in my bedroom. the pains of love, and they keep growin', in my heart there's flowers growin' on the grave of our old love, since you gave me a straight answer. if you still want me, please forgive me, the crown of love is not upon me. if you still want me, please forgive me, because the spark is not within me. it's not within me. it's not within me. you gotta be the one. you gotta be the way. your name is the only word, the only word that i can say! ↗

— Arcade Fire

#forgiveness

The impossibility of a retreat makes no difference in the situation of men resolved to conquer or die; and, believe me, my friends, if your conquest could be bought with the blood of your general, he would most cheerfully resign a life which he has long devoted to his country. ↗

— James Wolfe

#blood #bought #cheerfully #conquer #conquest

A wise man once said that the best definition of insanity was performing the same action over and over again, expecting different results." Father Peter stopped smiling. "The same could be said of you. What makes you so sure you're right? And so sure I'm wrong?" "The difference is that I made a mistake once, out of ignorance," Tim said. "Everything I've done since then has been to try to make amends." "To earn forgiveness." "To protect the innocents." Tim smiled, "And yes, to earn forgiveness. ↗

— Robert J. Wiersema

#life-lessons #forgiveness

I opened the large central window of my office room to its full on the fine early May morning. Then I stood for a few moments, breathing in the soft, warm air that was charged with the scent of white lilacs below. ↗

— Angus Wilson

#below #breathing #central #charged #early

Forgiving isn't something you do for someone else. It's something you do for yourself. It's saying, 'You're not important enough to have a stranglehold on me.' It's saying, 'You don't get to trap me in the past. I am worthy of a future. ↗

— Jodi Picoult

#future #past #trap #yourself #forgiveness

We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us. ↗

— Golda Meir

#sad-truth #forgiveness

Sometimes you want someone to accept our apology so badly. But all that we can do is hope they will, and that we can move on if they don't. ↗

— Lolalola

#forgiveness #friends #life #relationship #forgiveness