I am the betrayer in our relationship and I am looking for poems and sayings to help me ask my H for forgivness. I am not sure he will ever forgive me, but I would like to at least try. ANybody out there have any good poems on forgiveness?<P>

I too am the betrayer in our relationship. This is a poem that I wrote to my husband (now unfortunately, my ex). It touched him though, and I know he still keeps it:<P>When the road seems dark and dreary<BR>From the burdens you must bear,<BR>Remember I will always <BR>Walk beside you there.<BR>Just like the Savior’s promise<BR>So very long ago,<BR>A knock is all it ever takes<BR>I’ll follow where you go.<BR>And if you faint or weary<BR>Or fall along the way,<BR>I’ll pick you up and carry you<BR>Throughout the troubled day.<BR>At night I’ll hear your whisper<BR>If you chance to call my name<BR>And like our Savior brother,<BR>I’ll come to you the same.<BR>My promise never will be broken -<BR>On that you can be sure;<BR>No matter what life hands us<BR>I’ve promised to endure.<BR>I know I’ve caused you heartache<BR>And dimmed your faith in me,<BR>But my love for you is constant<BR>And grows eternally.<BR>Someday when we are older<BR>And meet our Savior dear,<BR>He’ll whisper “Well done brother,<BR>For bringing your family here.”<BR>And if perchance you wonder<BR>And talk with Him some more,<BR>He’ll tell you I always loved you,<BR>And will forever more.<BR>

DAWN,<P>I don't have a poem to suggest but I do know of a couple books for both of you to read. They are:<P>"Forgive and Forget -- Healing the hurts we don't deserve" by Lewis B. Smedes<P>and <P>"How Good do we Have to be?" by Harold Kushner<P>If you both read both books and discuss them, I believe you will find the right words.<P>Good luck.

Forgiveness is the fragrance of the violet still clinging to the heel that crushed it.<BR> anon<BR>

Even though I'm the betrayed and H is the betrayer, he's got a lot of anger and hatred towards me. He left last week and I would really love to send him this quote, but it would probably make him mad. It's by Leo Buscaglia:<P>When wronged by those we love, we seem to devalue years of a relationship -- a relationship that may have brought us many joys and which required much intellectual and emotional energy to have lasted so long. Still, with a single harsh statement, a thoughtless act, and unfeeling criticism, we are capable of destroying even the closest of our relationships. We quickly forget the good and set out to rationalize scenarios of hate. We do this rather than take up the challenge of honest evaluation and confrontation. We ignore the possibility that in the act of forgiving and showing compassion we are very likely to discover new depths in ourselves and new possibilities for relating in the future. We are too proud. We engage rather in self-defeating activities which keep us from forgiving; beliefs that if we withdraw and run from the situation we will hurt the other and absence will heal us; the fantasy that in avoidance there can be closure; the naive hope that in hurting, shaming, blaming and condemning we will be made to feel better. We fail to realize that when we refuse to engage in forgiving behaviors, it is we who assume the useless weight of hate, pain and vengeance which is never ending, and, instead, weighs upon us rather than the wrongdoer.<BR>

Onesmall Angel,<P>I am not the betrayer here but, I printed your beautiful poem this morning and put it in my husbands lunch box.<P>I too need his forgiveness for being a bad wife to him. That is indeed what fueled his need to be captured by the OW. If I'd been the kind of wife he needed then she wouldn't have been able to weasle her way into his life.<P>So...thank you so much for the poem. I think it can be used by many people from both sides of these tragedies.<P>God bless you,<BR>xoxoxoxo<P>------------------<BR>Samantha