The only time I have any concept of forgiveness is when I’ve
done something for which I hate myself and can’t get past the emotional
fallout. Does that mean I’m not forgiving myself? Am I getting close?
Saturday, 21 May 2016
Missing a Component.
It seems to me – and Freudian scholars will probably tell me
I’m wrong – that vengeance resides with the Id and the concept of justice with
the Ego, while the Super Ego permits only acceptance that what’s done is done
and cannot be undone. That’s why I don’t understand what forgiveness means.
Desire for vengeance is a knee jerk reaction. Justice is too vague a concept to
be viewed with anything other than a modicum of suspicion. The only vehicle for
sustained perception must surely be the higher mind, at least it is if that’s
how you’re made.
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2 comments:
I agree and I think that it qualifies as forgiveness in a sense. I've never been one to forgive and forget, but a lot of people maintain that the purpose of forgiveness is not to let the transgression slide, but to allow yourself reprieve from the feelings of guilt or of anger, or whatever. The need for justice can consume you when you have been greatly wronged. But how can some things be let go? When I am able to forgive someone it is because I put myself in their position. I'm constantly debating myself and others, playing devil's advocate, and trying to understand why people do the things that they do. And I often come to the conclusion that we are all lost and no one know's just exactly what the hell drives them or who they are... I can forgive people for their ignorance or idiocy, because though the damage to me remains, I feel the situation is blameless. But my ego won't allow me to forgive certain really petty things because the offender is just a heinous asshole and I have some vague sense of needing "vengeance". :)
I think the crux of the matter for me picks up on something you say here:
I know that everybody is flawed to some extent, including me. So while I can disagree with people, and get angry with them, and even judge them briefly, somewhere deep inside I feel the conviction that I have no right to judge anybody else's actions. I do because I'm human, but I feel that I shouldn't. Everybody else is, to some extent, a mystery to me. I don't know what combination of factors causes them to behave as they do, and this leads me to feel that the only person I am justified in judging is me. I suppose that's why the concept of forgiveness only makes sense in matters for which I am responsible.
Thanks for taking the time to offer your thoughts. It's appreciated.
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