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The Day of Atonement
Oct. 1st, 2006 09:03 pmI have always both liked the idea of Yom Kippur and been totally flummoxed by it. The problem, as I understand it, is that it is insufficient to be sorry that you have done the things that you have done, but that you must be forgiven. To quote the most reliable source known to man, Wikipedia (which is quoting somebody else (Mishnah tractate Yoma 8:9)): "The Day of Atonement absolves from sins against God, but not from sins against a fellow man unless the pardon of the offended person be secured."
I know how to forgive others. I even manage it sometimes. I can manage apologies at times. I can manage to forgive myself for some of what I do. But getting forgiveness is harder. People so hurt that they do not return calls, people who have disappeared and cannot be found, and people who are deceased... these are difficult to receive forgiveness from.
Possibly still harder is letting go of some hurts. It is too too easy to cling to them, to allow them in some senses to define oneself. I suppose it is fortunate, then, that we get to do this more than once. Perhaps it takes several efforts to catch up to some of the hurts, the blame.
Now, of course, I don't actually believe in Judaism as a faith, nor the Book of Life. But the concepts, as noted above, continue to appeal. So...
To those who feel the need to seek forgiveness from me, to the best of my ability, I forgive you. In most of those cases, I would bet that I have "given as good as I got," and so, in turn, I am sorry I have hurt you. And if it suits that you could forgive me, I would appreciate it. But if you cannot, rest assured that I understand far better than I would like to.
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I know how to forgive others. I even manage it sometimes. I can manage apologies at times. I can manage to forgive myself for some of what I do. But getting forgiveness is harder. People so hurt that they do not return calls, people who have disappeared and cannot be found, and people who are deceased... these are difficult to receive forgiveness from.
Possibly still harder is letting go of some hurts. It is too too easy to cling to them, to allow them in some senses to define oneself. I suppose it is fortunate, then, that we get to do this more than once. Perhaps it takes several efforts to catch up to some of the hurts, the blame.
Now, of course, I don't actually believe in Judaism as a faith, nor the Book of Life. But the concepts, as noted above, continue to appeal. So...
To those who feel the need to seek forgiveness from me, to the best of my ability, I forgive you. In most of those cases, I would bet that I have "given as good as I got," and so, in turn, I am sorry I have hurt you. And if it suits that you could forgive me, I would appreciate it. But if you cannot, rest assured that I understand far better than I would like to.
Comments are screened.
