Choosing to forgive

I stood with great respect outside Mani Bhavan - a simple old-styled 2-storied building on Laburnum Road, Mumbai. This was where Gandhiji used to stay. Today, the house has been converted into a Gandhi Memorial.

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong." - Mahatma Gandhi

Forgiveness is hard. Especially in marriages tense with past troubles and torn by suspician and distrust.

Forgiveness hurts. Especially when it must be extended to a husband or wife who doesn't deserve it, who hasn't earned it, or who may misuse it. It hurts to forgive.

Forgiveness costs. Especially in a marriage when it means accepting instead of demanding repayment for the wrong done; where it means releasing the other instead of exacting revenge; where it means reaching out in love instead of relinquishing resentments. It costs to forgive.

How can a person forgive? There is no easy answer. But this I know: Emotionally, resentment is a deadly poison.