Finding Forgiveness: The stories of others

June Boyce-Tillman, editor of the book series Music and Spirituality

This is part 3 in a series on Finding Forgiveness.

In part 2, I shared some personal examples of which have enabled the process of establishing an authentic interiority following traumatic experiences in myself.

Since then a number of people have come to me with a similar history to mine. They somehow know mine, I think, at some level. Some come for advice and some to tell me old stories. As a result, I wrote this hymn reflecting on it all to the tune Finlandia — usually used for the hymn: Be still my soul.

What I have set out in this book how I have recycled and turned the legacy of the past into a rich compost that can grow into celebration and creativity. This has been partly though music (the freedom song of the title): hymns, longer works and the one-woman performances. These have played a significant part in the healing process for myself and others. Recently, in South Africa, after a performance of my show Seeing in the Dark (which is on the subject of abuse) an unknown man came up to me in tears, talking of his own healing and thanking me for telling his story.

I am hoping that my story may help people managing the complexity of their own life-story, to mulch it down into authentic interiorities. God has been good to me. I still find a Christian frame one that enables me to make meaning effectively. Within this frame, life is a journey into understanding Divine love in all its varied forms. In an age where love is often portrayed as an erotic relationship between two people, my life has revealed both the cost and the blessings of loving. People enculturated in other faiths may well make meaning differently. The important thing is to have a sense of a wider picture, into which your story fits. The Christian frame that I have used offered me s hope — perhaps the most significant of all virtues. I have had a long joyful journey but the destination has been worth it.

RE-MEMBERING

[1] Berry, Jan, and Pratt, Andrew (2017). Hymns of Hope and Healing: Words and Music to refresh the Church’s ministry of healing. London: Stainer and Bell. p92. @Stainer and Bell

[2] June Boyce-Tillman to the tune Adapted from the Handel aria: Lascia ch’io pianga. Berry, Jan, and Pratt, Andrew (2017). Hymns of Hope and Healing: Words and Music to refresh the Church’s ministry of healing. London: Stainer and Bell. p123 @ Stainer and Bell