Friday, August 13, 2010

Forgive my Ignorance

  1. for-give
    /fərˈgɪv/ verb
    verb (used with object)
    to grant pardon for or remission of (an offense, debt, etc.); absolve.
    to give up all claim on account of; remit (a debt, obligation, etc.).
    to grant pardon to (a person).
    to cease to feel resentment against: to forgive one's enemies.
    to cancel an indebtedness or liability of: to forgive the interest owed on a loan.

    verb (used without object)
    to pardon an offense or an offender.

forgive. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1).


I don’t understand how forgiveness works. I mean, I get how you can agree to let something go. But, that doesn’t mean that whatever occurred was OK. It just means you will try to get by it, right? But, does it also mean that when you think back on whatever occurred that it shouldn’t still burn your a$$? Because if it didn’t burn your a$$, that sort of implies that it (whatever action) was somehow OK or justified. Which it probably wasn’t. Which is why it upset you in the first place. But if it does still burn your a$$, then you haven’t REALLY let it go, have you?
OR
Not feeling resentment or upset about something that hurt you would imply a certain neutrality to the situation, an ability to disconnect from the events. Which if you were truly disconnected, likely would not have resulted in your state of offense. So, you wise folk of blog land, what’s the deal? How does forgiveness work? I can't seem to nail it down here.

1 comment:

Bob G. said...

MSN:
I think you have a pretty decent handle on FORGIVENESS, but as I often say:
"I might forgive, but I rarely forget".

I can permit myself to allow a wrongdoing against me to roll of my back. It's when I don't become cautious to avoid similar situations that gives me the greatest challenge.

Then again, it all depends on the depth and longevity OF that wrongdoing.
Sometimes, it can span decades.

I don't toss forgiveness around like a Frisbee. I don't think anyone can, or it lessens the true meaning of being able to honestly forgive.
I'd love to be able to forgive in that Biblical sense, but I'm far from becoming THAT good a person ALl I can do is try.

Only God can totally forgive everything from all of us all the time, but I'm sure He's got a MUCH better memory that I could ever hope to have.
So, I think He's the one keeping "score".

That's just my belief.

Have a great weekend.