Comments on Vengeance, Resentment, Repentance, ForgivenessTypePad2011-05-01T15:07:06ZRick Garnetthttps://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/tag:typepad.com,2003:https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2011/05/vengeance-resentment-repentance-forgiveness/comments/atom.xml/A Catholic School Teacher commented on 'Vengeance, Resentment, Repentance, Forgiveness'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d834515a9a69e201538e40ac3e970b2011-05-02T17:08:42Z2011-05-02T17:08:42ZA Catholic School TeacherI get this question a lot from parents at conference time; sometimes directly from my students. The first time I...<p>I get this question a lot from parents at conference time; sometimes directly from my students. The first time I heard the question I was quite taken aback as I had never considered it before. Isn't it obvious that we are called to unilateral forgiveness?</p>
<p>As I've worked through this blindspot in my thinking, I've come to think that it is not so obvious. But I think it may still be true (I approach the question with much more humility than I would have years ago). When Christ enjoins us to love our enemies I think He means while they are still our enemies, not after we have been reconciled as friends. This seems to reveal the logic of the forgiveness to which we are called as His disciples: a forgiveness which transcends the contractual.</p>
<p>With the caveat that forgiveness does not make us stupid. No need to hand over the keys of the house!</p>elena commented on 'Vengeance, Resentment, Repentance, Forgiveness'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d834515a9a69e201538e3d83c2970b2011-05-02T01:26:46Z2011-05-02T01:26:46Zelenai am not a law professor and not baptised into any faith (as i grew up in the former soviet...<p>i am not a law professor and not baptised into any faith (as i grew up in the former soviet union), but if you allow, i'd like to comment on forgiveness</p>
<p>i think that God's forgiveness is an absolute, He has an unlimited credit of forgiveness toward a man<br />
any human forgiveness is limited<br />
it's like giving a person another loan after he wasted money the first time and never paid back<br />
it would be stupid to repeat mistakes (here i mean the lender)<br />
yet, in the light of a new situation, how we sense it (not promises of that person) be willing to give another chance, sincerely believing that a person can change and whole-heartedly willing that<br />
<br />
this is far from God's unlimited forgiveness, but i think, it is possible because of it</p>
<p>looks like there are many levels of forgiveness, the highest of which is God's, absolute, unconditional<br />
it's not an easy concept at any of those levels as it does not imply obliteration of memory - facts, events, things of the past are still there, yet we look at them differently<br />
God's absolute forgiveness simply means love<br />
<br />
and it is the same on our lower human levels<br />
<br />
we love our children and forgive them a lot closing our eyes on the facts, favoring them unequally in front of others who committed the same acts<br />
this does not mean that we do not tell or show them what was wrong in our view, or that they guarantee to avoid "mistakes" in the future<br />
we teach, talk, argue, discuss, help<br />
yet, unlike our interactions with others, we have a very deep line of credit open to them because of love, much more than they deserve rationally<br />
<br />
next come parents, spouses, people we love, relatives, then friends and others</p>