Free to Blossom

Have you ever seen a flower bud trying to grow through an old dead leaf? The pointed green bud has pierced the dry brown membrane but then gets stuck. As the flower grows upward, the old debris gets dragged along. Choked and strangled by seasons past, the bud is unable to bloom into beauty or to release a sweet fragrance on the breeze. The garden is diminished.

When I am struggling with forgiveness, I try to keep that image in mind, realizing that it is my own freedom I am limiting by hanging on to past grudges and resentments.