I had forgiven her and yet we were not reconciled. The reality began to set in that we might never be reconciled in this life. It has been frustrating. When we are alienated from loved family members or friends, it is often difficult to be objective, to separate logic from emotions. Maybe you have tried and tried, cried many tears and prayed often, but nothing has changed.
Reconciliation is often a long and difficult process.
About four years ago our church began to understand grace more fully. I learned that grace included such topics as salvation, repentance, forgiveness, rebirth, faith and the love of God. Jesus began to convict me that although I had forgiven my mother, there would be no reconciliation without her confession of mistakes made. Without repentance there would be no relationship. Jesus beckons us to lay our burdens on his shoulders and to stand at the foot of the cross, the common ground and ultimate symbol of all reconciliation.