Forgiving #MeToo

Easter Sunday I was invited, as a forgiveness teacher, to a beautiful ceremony honoring the Divine Feminine. 

At the start of the event, a group of men come forward to the stage.  As the first man began to speak. I felt guarded (why does every event have to start off with men speaking?), but I was willing to listen. 

The men said they had an offering for the women. One of them said this:

If there is any woman here who has ever felt demeaned, belittled, made wrong, made small, dishonored, put down, violated, abused, or treated as less, on behalf of ourseves and on behalf of all men, we apologize. 

We apologize.

I could scarcely believe my ears.

I was still skeptical.

But then, the men did something extraordinary.

They got down on their knees. They were humble. They said they were committed to listening to the women, hearing us, helping us heal, and serving us.  

Many tears and sobs could be heard in the room.  The words of the men touched something very deep in the women.  For me, it touched the edge of a place that was numb, buried deep within, that hasn’t been felt for thousands of years.  

Eventually I wondered, what about forgiveness? Am I ready/wiling to forgive men?  

The answer for me was “not yet.”  “Not yet” because I do not yet even know all of what this