The Law of Forgiveness.. mea culpa!

I almost feel unworthy to write this column on this topic, because it's just so darned hard to live it.
Everyday I have to remind myself that there are only 2 things required by me in this life. I was given this info during a SpiritQuest several years back.. when I asked God, 'Now why is it that I'm here again?' and She said, 'You are here to Love & to Forgive. Nothing more, nothing less.' And it sounded so utterly simple at the time. Who couldn't Love & Forgive.. duh.
Yeah, duh.
The moment you challenge yourself like that.. you can count on being tested to show you just how 'easy' it is, or isn't.
At that point in my life, I was blind-sided by a familial relationship break-down that literally slammed me into a wall. I had never been 'hated' or belittled or derided in this fashion EVER before in my life.
Now you can talk about forgiveness all day long, & until you are forced to face the issue that demands you forgive someone who despises you.. then it's all talk.
I have to admit, I couldn't do it at 1st.. I had to let it fester awhile & come to a fine boil & destroy any semblance of inner calm that meditation could bring to me. When I would pray, I would see that family member's face, when I would sleep, I would dream her words.
Finally, I asked God to love her through me, because I just couldn't seem to rise above the ego hurt of the whole situation.
And God being the benevolent One did that for me, until I was strengthened enough to do it for myself.
And you know, what's wonderful about forgiveness is that you do it for yourself, not for that other person. When you allow forgiveness to come to the fore, you allow yourself the privilege to 'forget'. And life can go forward once again, instead of being stuck in that quagmire of resentful limbo.
One of the best examples I ever read on Forgiveness was in the book, 'The Little Soul and the Sun'.
Before this child is ever born, living in the land of soul-energy, he is playing with his best friend. They have decided to incarnate & the best friend tells him, 'During this lifetime I am going to teach you about forgiveness, okay? And I am going to do something to you so terrible, but you will need to forgive me, and learn this life lesson. Just never forget that I'm your best friend, okay?'
That's what I keep telling myself about this event in my life. Sometimes our spiritual best friends are well camouflaged as our enemies in this lifetime. Learn the lesson & move on.
Then when we are soul-energy again, we will all have some good laughs.