On Forgiveness

When thinking about recent history, there have been several moments over the last several years where leaders of national prominence have been humbled by apologies for mistakes. When thinking about these events and reflecting on last night's rebuke of the President of one of the leading academic institutions in the world, what saddens me is how apologies and forgiveness seems to be sentiments that the media and the public have a hard time accepting. People make mistakes, ranging from minor to major, but often the message we see expressed is one of dismissal by peers and by the media's desire to fuel moments of contention. I do not condone or excuse the mistakes of public figures that go too far with their statements or betray trust by personal indiscretions, but given situations where we are asked to forgive, I think this is best. Often, when we find someone in a moment where such apology is warrented and expected, we bring up everything that we don't like about that person and confuse the issue into being something bigger than it is. This snowball causes a confusion of the heart of this issue and the message becomes one bred on negativity. Without acceptance of intentions (the desire to move on, learn and grow), the situations where we ask and expect understanding; failing this, evryone loses.