A Pondering Paradox's Palace

Note: This is written for a magazine I do. Hence the devotional style writing. Enjoy.

I scrubbed furiously at the old weekly calendar. It was a dry erase
kind. I’d had it hanging with outdated writing for at least 4 months.
If I had erased it the same day I wrote it, the markings would have
come off without a fuss, but because I had waited so long, I had to
resort to soaking the thing in water and scrubbing for several minutes
to get out one line of text.
Forgiveness can be a lot like this. The longer you wait the harder it
is to forgive. You build up a grudge, becoming an expert at pointing
out or noticing that person’s every fault. I’m kinda an expert at
forgiving, mainly because I’ve had to do it so much. I have an
amazingly short temper and a pouty type of attitude.
I thought I’d write down some pointers that I’ve found helpful:
1)      Apologize – and apologize soon! The Bible says, “Do not let the sun
go down on your anger.” Be able to go to sleep with a clear mind.
2)      With that said – don’t do it right after whatever
disagreement/insults/or insults you need to apologize for. Whether you
mean it or not, you’ll probably end up telling the other person off.
Why? Because in your mind, you may still consider them to be in the
wrong.

Having trouble apologizing? Remember these things:
1)      If you’re thinking that it’s all the other person’s fault, little
warning lights should be going off in your head. Rarely is anything
all one person’s fault. Take a walk, cool off, think it through and
then talk to the person you need to apologize too.
2)      If the person refuses to accept your apology, try to get a unbiased
third person to be there when you apologize. If the third person sees
that it’s not your fault, you shouldn’t worry about it. Consider it that you’ve apologized, whether they accept it or not is up to them.

What happens if someone won’t apologize to you?
Deal with it. That’s the best advice I can give you. If it really bugs
you, take the latest advice and get a third person in to try to help
resolve it. If that fails, learn to live with it. You can’t make
someone apologize, but try not to be like my calendar and refuse to be
clean when someone does decide to wipe the slate with you.