Wreckage on the Road to Reconciliation
The Discount Pardoners
Once you’ve acknowledged that someone you love has hurt you, next comes the difficult decision of what to do about it.
Once you’ve acknowledged that someone you love has hurt you, next comes the difficult decision of what to do about it. Some of the people you meet in the Road to Reconciliation think they’ve found a short cut. They give pardon away cheaply, believing then everything can just go back to normal.
Most of what passes for forgiveness is actually a cut-rate imitation, an easy, breezy amnesty you extend, not because it’s earned, but because you don’t want to deal with it. It preserves the connection you have with the person who offended you. You don’t have to fight, express your feelings, or watch anyone squirm. You don’t have to prolong the awkward scene of the offender, down on his knees, asking forgiveness, or the equally uncomfortable situation of having to explain how you are hurt to one who is clueless, defensive, and in her own denial.
