Music Making Things Right This is a guided visualization designed as a first step towards reconciliation,
Imagining it as a possibility.
Here reconciliation is used in its widest meaning to be about the making right of relationships.
This is a step that can usually only happen safely and well after forgiveness.
Listeners are encouraged to consider listening to the guided visualizations for self-forgiveness and for forgiving another person before they listen to this track.
Take some time to settle yourself in a place where you will not be disturbed.
Allow yourself to settle deeper into this still place through mindfulness,
Relaxation or prayer.
Become aware of your breath.
Follow it for a time in and out.
Allow your attention to rest on your breath.
Gently and repeatedly return to your attention on your breath.
Some people find it helps to focus on the sensation of breathing in one place,
Perhaps the nose,
Shoulders,
Chest or abdomen.
When you become distracted and aware of thoughts,
Ever so briefly note the content and then gently return to your focus on the sensations of breath in this part of your body.
Once you are settled,
Turn your mind's eye or inner imagination to this scene.
You may see yourself in a place of quiet reflection in nature or about to offer the best of yourself in service or somewhere kneeling before an altar about to make a gift to the one you know as God.
As you see yourself in that place and bring to your mind the question of reconciliation,
Of making things right,
Notice any heart prompts.
Is there something disturbing your inner peace or getting in the way of your offering?
Is there something that someone has against you or that you have against someone else?
Is there an unreconciled relationship that comes to mind?
Often it is the first issue that comes to mind that we need to attend to.
Sometimes though,
If we wait a little while,
Open,
Some other issue comes to the surface and demands our attention.
Once you have a clear sense of the issue and the person,
You may visualize yourself rising from where you are and going to the person and making it right.
If appropriate,
Offer forgiveness.
Similarly,
If appropriate,
Make apology and offer restitution.
If it feels right for you,
Convey to the other your desire for a renewed relationship,
One that honors and arises out of this moment of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Allow your imagination to work to the full here.
We can never guarantee another person's response,
Of course.
All that is asked of us is the heart willingness to be reconciled,
To make things right.
Perhaps though,
You cannot bring yourself to rise.
It feels too difficult to approach the other,
Even in imagination.
Instead,
You may wish to see the issue represented in front of you or held in your hands.
You may wish to see this issue slowly lit up with loving light.
Use your imagination to the full,
Allowing this loving light to shine on and change the situation.
Take the time you need to complete this exercise in an unhurried way.
As you do it,
Notice any prompts to action that arise in you.
Is there a next step that suggests itself once the visualization is over?
Gently acknowledge any prompts in your heart and mind.
You do not need to act now,
But only notice what arises for you.
This sort of visualization can often feel like an intense experience.
Allow yourself some time to slowly shift from an inner focus back to a sense of yourself in the present moment.
It may help to notice the sensation of your body against your chair,
Then the sounds you hear around you,
And finally the things you see around you.
What was this exercise like for you?
Is there a challenge in this visualization for you?
If so,
Does a next step suggest itself?
You may wish to journal,
Talk to a friend about your reflections,
Or respond in some other way to this experience.
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