Forgiveness is one of the hardest lessons in life. It’s not just about letting go of what others have done—it’s also about forgiving ourselves for the mistakes we carry, the choices we regret, and the times we feel we’ve fallen short. The following statement has been attributed to Gautama Buddha, Nelson Mandela and others. The quote essentially is: “to be unforgiving is like drinking poison yourself, and expecting the other person to die.” Regardless of who said it, it carries a universal message that the bitterness and resentment of unforgiveness only festers within yourself rather than the person you are holding the grudge against.
Elizabeth Grace Harris finally began the healing journey of forgiveness, and it became the unspoken catalyst for her book Letters to Heaven. It was THE necessary stimulus that opened the door to experiencing a deeply loving intimacy with the Source of all creation, which she shares with us in these Letters. It is this Divine relationship that is the central theme of her healing journey, but it could not have happened without first beginning to forgive and be forgiven, and continuing to do so as things came up.
Letters to Heaven starts off as a journal to process grief. In that journalling though, it becomes a book about rediscovering Love as well—real Love, the kind that doesn’t abandon you. But in order to make that discovery, she had to first open her heart and mind to the idea that she herself could be forgiven.
Letters Written From a Broken Heart
When Elizabeth first began writing, she was trying to survive, mired in guilt and shame. After losing loved ones and facing heartbreak, she turned to journaling as a way to release the pain she couldn’t express anywhere else. She began to see that she didn’t really believe in the forgiveness she’d been told about all her life.
Her letters were honest, sometimes filled with questions, sometimes with anger, and sometimes with tears. But as she wrote, something began to shift. Instead of just speaking to those who were gone, she began speaking to God. And in those conversations, she began to see herself differently.
The same letters that carried her grief slowly began carrying something else: a new understanding of Love and the Presence of this Divine Love in all creation. But it was her willingness to be forgiven that allowed that journey to blossom.
Forgiveness From God
For Elizabeth, accepting that she was truly forgiven by God was one of her greatest struggles. Despite the heart of her Christian upbringing saying the opposite, she never really believed her mistakes were actually forgiven.
Through writing, she began to encounter faith in a new way. She discovered that the God she reached for was not tallying her failures—she was. What He offered instead was Love: steady, unconditional, infinite. It was like a warm, clear pool she could dive into again and again. Though forgiveness from God is not the central theme of this book, it proved to be the doorway into that vast reservoir of Love. The weight of feeling unforgiven had built walls around her heart and mind, and until she could accept it from God, she could not truly see or feel what awaited her. Forgiveness, though silent in these writings, was the key that opened the way to the Eternal.
That realization changed everything. Forgiveness was no longer about striving to make things right—though it did call her to make amends where possible. It became a process about receiving Love, allowing it to wash away guilt and shame whenever they surfaced. Forgiveness was the force that broke through the layers covering her soul, letting the light within shine again. It was not license to persist in wrongdoing, but a transformation of heart and mind—one that brings true freedom for both self and others.
Learning to Forgive Herself
In the end, the hardest forgiveness for Elizabeth was the forgiveness she needed to extend to herself. Like many people, she carried regrets—about choices she had made, about things she wished she could undo. And before she could dive into that infinite pool of Divine Love and write from there, she had to make her heart and mind right if she were carrying judgment about herself. She had to face her surfacing regrets honestly and without judgment. It wasn’t about excusing her mistakes, but about understanding that we are all learning, all stumbling, all seeking Love in imperfect ways. She also learned that we are all an unconscious product of our programming from birth. Now that she knew that, she could be transformed by the renewing of her mind, through the doorway of forgiveness. She learned that self-forgiveness was not selfish. It’s necessary. Without it, we stay trapped in shame and never truly heal.
Finding True Love
One of the most powerful discoveries in Elizabeth’s journey was what she calls “True Love.” At first, she had chased love in the places our culture tells us to—relationships, approval, success. But those endeavours often left her empty.
Through her letters, she discovered that the Love she was searching for had always been there. It was the Love of God, the Love within, the kind that doesn’t fail.
This discovery didn’t erase her pain, but it transformed it. Instead of looking outside for validation, she began to find peace inside. And with that peace came the ability to forgive more freely—herself, others, and even life itself for not turning out the way she once imagined it should.
Why Forgiveness Matters
Readers of Letters to Heaven don’t just find comfort for grief—they also find an invitation to a relationship with the Source of all creation. And Elizabeth wants to make it clear that forgiveness was the unspoken doorway in these letters. Forgiveness isn’t just about moving on. It’s about freedom. It’s about liberating one from the chains that keep us tied to pain.
Whether it’s forgiving someone who hurt us, forgiving circumstances we can’t control, or forgiving ourselves for being human, forgiveness opens the door to healing. And healing opens the door to Love.
A Universal Message
Although Elizabeth’s letters came out of deeply personal experiences, the message is one that touches anyone. People may come to the book because of grief, but they often leave with something much larger: a new understanding of what it means to Love and to be Loved without condition.
That is the gift of Letters to Heaven. It meets readers in their pain but doesn’t leave them there. It gently leads them toward hope, and toward a deeper Love than they may have ever known before.
Final Thoughts
Elizabeth Grace Harris began writing Letters to Heaven because she needed a place to put her sorrow. What she created instead was a book that now brings healing to others.
At its heart, this is a story of life after forgiveness—discovering the True Love that never lets us go.
For readers carrying grief, regret, or disappointment, this book is more than words on a page. It is a companion, a reminder that Love is greater than loss. Forgiveness is possible—even when it feels impossible and is the vehicle of flight that will fly you straight into the Loving arms of God.
In a world that often tells us to hide our brokenness, Letters to Heaven reminds us that healing begins when we are honest and when we let love in. That will happen when we finally allow ourselves to forgive.