Forgiveness

I saw this picture on Bostonist.com and it really struck me for some reason.



The concept of "Forgive and Forget" is one that I never could decide exactly where I landed on. On the one hand, the spirit of the phrase seems to be one that suggests we forgive people for the wrongs that they have done to us and forget the hurt that was caused by it. This allows us to continue to move forward in relationships or at least be cordial to people rather than complete dissolution and never wanting to see or interact with these individuals again.

On the other hand, one could argue that if you forgive and forget that you do not fully experience the life lessons to be learned because we "forget" the wrongs that are done to us. This coincides nicely with the "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" phrase that people have often heard. If you decide to completely forget the wrong, do you remember not to place your hand on the hot burner the next time it happens?

Then again, one could also argue that this phrase means to forgive people for their wrongs, learn from the hurt, and "forget" could be a metaphor for handing the burden to God for Him to forgive the person.

I admit this to be more of a brain dump than it is full out thoughts and articulate notions. But that picture really struck me this morning, and now I think it'll likely be on my mind for the better part of the day.