Forgiveness

 

“To err is human; to forgive, divine.” -- Alexander Pope

Forgiveness goes against every human instinct. If someone wrongs us, we want revenge or we want justice. If someone hits you, the natural instinct is to hit them back. Overcoming that instinct takes work. In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock says “… and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” Shylock is Jewish, but he is making it clear that this is not just about Jews, it is universal to the human condition:

 “… If you prick us, do we not bleed?
if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison
us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not
revenge?”

He is saying that Jews have the same feelings as Christians. Christians are supposed to be forgiving. That’s what the whole “turn the other cheek” thing was about. In fact, most religions preach some version of forgiveness. But Shylock knows the reality is different. He is surrounded by Christians and knows that many will hold a grudge as easily as he will. So, he throws it back in their face. He has a point.

This is eventually answered by Portia’s speech:

“The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven...”

She is telling him that he should be merciful, and mercy and compassion are the natural order of things. They should flow freely as the rain falls from the sky, without effort. A nice sentiment, but human nature seems to belie it. All of human history suggests that whatever religion you are, mercy takes effort. Most of us would not turn the other cheek. It takes a special kind of person to do that. It takes a person who has had to work at it.

Shakespeare gives us another example of forgiveness in the play Measure for Measure. The character Angelo gets drunk with power and tries to do horrible things to the beautiful novice Isabella and her family. I won’t go into all the details here, but trust me, Angelo has turned into a bad man, and Isabella has every reason to hate him and to want vengeance for her brother who everyone believes Angelo has killed. Yet, when sentence is about to be handed down to Angelo, Isabella, of all people, asks for leniency. Not only does she forgive him, but she also asks the powers that be to forgive him. Why? The key is that she is a novice, about to become a nun. She has no doubt studied the words that Jesus said, and she believes he meant what he said. It is easy to be forgiving if the offence against you is a trifling thing. But when the person has killed your brother? That takes a special type of character and devotion to forgive such a thing.

There are such people in the world. They make the news from time to time. More important are the ones who do not make the news.

Isabella’s mercy is perhaps the most Christian act in the entire cannon of Shakespeare’s plays (even though most “Christians” at the time or even now, would have called for Angelo’s head). The ideal is important. As I said, the same ideal is present in many religions:

In Islam:

“Let them pardon and forgive. Do you not love to be forgiven by Allah? And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

In Judaism:

Forgiveness is a mitzvah. In Leviticus it says, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart . . . You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge.”

In Buddhism:

Forgiving someone is seen as freeing yourself from the harm that resentment is causing you. That resentment is spiritual poison. 

In Hinduism:

Forgiveness is considered the path to spiritual elevation and inner peace.

So, pretty much everyone agrees that forgiveness is what we should all strive for. Why is it so hard?

The Methane Sea