I strive to forgive
as I would be forgiven,
because it is the same debt,
the same fault –
what I see in the other
and what I find in me

And it’s the same grace
that lifts us both,
erasing the offending image
from my perception,
as criticism in myself,
as what I criticized
in someone else

We both are free,
and I have done
no more than what’s required  –
no great act of virtue  –
just what saves me
and may save
someone else as well.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 19, 2021