Today I came across one of my favorite C. S. Lewis quotes from Mere Christianity: “Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive….”
This is both humorous and true. I am rather free in my expectation to be forgiven (I didn’t mean it, it was a mistake, a momentary lapse in judgment, I forgot…) but the stakes rise when the insult or injury is to me (how dare you, I can’t believe that you, just wait until, WTF?, you #$%@…). It seems to be that the righteous indignation of newfound “victim status” instantly overcomes any intellectual understanding of the concept of forgiveness. This is, I suppose, why Lewis refers to forgiveness as “this terrible duty.” Still, we keep trying.
It occurs to me... 