if mercy is a crime - let's become outlaws

the felony of forgiveness

This morning, as I sat drinking my coffee in a cute little place down the street from me, I heard two friends at the table next to me having a pretty loud discussion over the word “forgiveness.”

I won’t go into detail about their dueling monologues - but in summary, they both believed that mercy should only be applied in the rarest of moments. They both agreed that forgiveness should be adjudicated and earned.

After a bit of unintentional eavesdropping, I tried to turn up the volume of my headphones so I could ignore their conversation - but my poet-heart was already fully unsettled.

I am very aware of how naive I am when it comes to giving people who have hurt me a second, third, fourth and a hundredth chance to redeem themselves. I have been a doormat more often than I can count because I keep pardoning folks - and I know there is a distinction between “being a forgiving person” and a “sucker” that I haven’t quite grasped yet.

The thing is, I can’t help needing to give people a clean slate. Not because I am some amazing altruistic dude - my reasons are a bit more self-centered.