Forgiveness

     Time takes away the sharpness of everything. It dulls pain, ruins mountains, destroys buildings, and given enough of it, wears down the pyramids. Forgiveness is only possible when coupled with time. Acceptance of the wrong committed then to ignore that event and move on and away from it. You reject that portion of the past in order to embrace the future.
     This is hardest thing to do in life, especially after betrayal by someone close. Those that are burned yet can set aside pride and anger to forgive have giant portions of character. Acquittal is similar but not the same. Acquitting means that you acknowledge the action took place but are willing to move on from that; you have not excused or overlooked actions, merely accepted them. That is only the first part of forgiveness. The next is to not use that past action against the abuser.

     Grace and mercy associate closely with forgiveness because none of them are possibly earned by those that have committed wrong. It is an internal act by the overseer, the one acted against. Unfortunately, these words carry excessively heavy religious baggage and are difficult to use outside of a religious context.       
     Compassion sympathizers with the evil doer. Clemency heightens this tenderness of heart. Absolution removes the wrong from mind and memory. Those that forgive freely and honestly are champions of life. The few that truly posses this ability have either never suffered or suffered so much that another small wrong holds no weight against them.
     To be forgiven is an overwhelming comfort since it frees you from your mistake. Cherish that feeling and seek out those you have wronged to wiped the smears of the past away from damaged relationships.

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Agatha Tyche

Betrayal

     Back-stabber, traitor, scapegoat, liar, deceiver, deserter, let down, seducer, disloyal, unfaithful, forsaken, rejected. These words undoubtedly associate thoughts will negative feelings. What feeling is worse than placing trust in an unworthy source?
     Often times treachery undoes a situation - war, business deals, friendship, family concerns. Once the foundation of trust is eroded, healing is a feat of near impossibility. Nothing is worse than this. Dante's Inferno deals with betrayal in the deepest section of hell. The notable examples are Brutus against Caesar and Judas against Jesus. Benedict Arnold betrayed his position in the American Revolution to the British. Hitler betrayed his promises with the U.S.S.R. and invaded that country in 1941.

     Traitors often suffer terrible fates. While freedom and pleasure may accompany the act of betrayal and a short time after, no intelligent being would place faith in one who is noted as a betrayer of trust. If not killed, treachery is rewarded with a life of misery and guilt. Judas killed himself, Brutus killed himself, and Arnold lived in misery. The Soviet Union eventually turned the tide of the German invasion and became the key nation in defeating the Germans with a decisive push westward to end the war.
      A traitor who fixedly gains from his deception is a rarity. Loyalty, faith, trust, and confidence in fellow man is one of the brightest points of optimism for the young. The harshest betrayals to overcome are those held the dearest friends. Adultery is classically held as a painful, harrowing experience. A relationship designed to last the lifetime of both partners is instantly shattered with the knowledge of an interloper.
     Treachery hurts, supplying its status as a crime if committed against nation and politically, as grounds for divorce. Nothing heals this void. Forgiveness cleanses but cannot seal the gaping wound.

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Agatha Tyche