Forgiveness.

     What does it mean to forgive? To me forgiveness takes place when you decide to let go of a situation in which you have been wronged. Forgiveness does not mean that you completely forget the transgression that has transpired against you. It simply is when in your heart you decide that you are not going to seek retribution and that you are going to move forward. 

     I believe the most difficult situations to forgive are those in which someone harms either one of your family members or someone you care deeply about. The documentary film we watched in class made a very interesting point when it interviewed the Auschwitz survivor. The man publicly prayed that God would not forgive the men who performed the heinous acts of violence to him and his family in the concentration camp. I thought for a long time after that about whether or not there are sins that we as humans simply cannot forgive. September 11 is the single most devastating event that I have been alive to see personally. I tried to put myself in the shoes of the families who lost loved ones on that terrible day. I honestly don't know if I would be able to forgive those men. I than thought of the Biblical story of Jesus Christ dying on the cross and how He prayed out for his accusers and asked God to forgive them. I feel like if I was in His place, forgiveness would have been the last thing on my mind. This idea I believe shows how powerful forgiveness really is. The truth is that in this world horrific things happen. We cannot do anything to prevent this. We can however try to move forward and help one another to rebuild.

     The easiest situations to forgive I believe are the simple day-to-day transgressions. My brother and I used to get into a lot of fights growing up. Often we would say mean things to one another. Yet after we had cooled down we would always participate in a sort of peace talk. We would forgive one another. These small spats are the ones that all human beings are a part of at some point in time and that we all should learn how to forgive early on. If we hang on to these insignificant squabbles, life will be a frustrating journey. The sooner we learn to forgive, the sooner we will find sincere peace.