HARD TO FORGIVE EVERY TIME

You were angry with your friend:
You told your wrath, your wrath did end
You were angry with your foe:
I told it not, your wrath did grow.
And you water’d it in fears,
Night and morning with your tears;
And you sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright;
And your foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,
And into your garden stole
When the night had veil’d the pole:
In the morning glad your see
Your foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Perhaps the hardest thing about practicing forgiveness in daily life is that it requires us to confront the reality of our feelings toward those we know best. It is difficult enough to forgive a stranger we might never see again, but it is much harder to forgive a person we love and trust. Our family, our friends, the people we feel closest to at work – they not only know our strengths, but also our weaknesses, our frailties, and our quirks. And when they turn on us, we are often left reeling