Forgivenesss

I had a conversation last night with one of my students on forgiveness. Then, this morning on my way to school, this song came on. It reinforced everything said last night so I thought I would share it. The name is There's Only Forgiveness by John Reuben. It is very powerful and so very true.

Now it’s in my head cuz they’re one step ahead
It’s under my skin cuz it’s a little too thin
And it’s in my heart just to tear me apart
Now you’re feeding off the aggression
Misery loves company and twisted forms of affection
Meet the human heart where hostility lives
Sometimes revenge feels so good that I don’t want to forgive
And oh no thus the cycle continues
It’s an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
Til they’re all loose and you’re bitter blind and numb
You bark but can’t bite because you’re all gums
And is justice ever done are you ever satisfied
Was it about justification or about pride
Stay away from the truth it might teach you things you don’t like
My insecurity is out to prove that I’m right

(chorus)
I don’t want your apologies
I don’t want restitution
I want to hear you’re wrong but I don’t want resolutions
I want justice but I don’t care for peace
I don’t want to be bound but I don’t choose to be free
I want for you what I feel inside of me
And as soon as I know what that is I’ll share willingly

It seems like it should be simpler
But the human condition runs from wisdom
And we’re not as bright as we give ourselves credit
We repeat the same mistakes before we can regret it
I tried to let it go but it held me in place
There’s something better but I don’t like the taste
Bitterness is easier to swallow than the sting of grace
Memories can be neglected but impossible to erase
They reappear in different ways
And most of the time we’re not even sure of what it is that we hate
We just follow our feelings into an unhealthy state of being with no plans of leaving

(chorus)

If I let this go then it’s all in the past
And if I hold onto it I still have something to grasp
What would we do if we had nothing to fight about
Out of the abundance out our hearts we run our mouths
And tear each other apart and inflict pain and grief
Humanity wouldn’t know what to do if we had world peace
So you can take the sign in your front lawn down it’s a nice gesture
But mankind likes to go to our war it’s in our fallen nature
Neighbors nations corporations races insecurity and hurt works well with retaliation
But don’t worry it will be your turn soon
So plot your revenge as you clean your knife wound
And 'I forgive you' is not an option
It’s too uncomfortable
It’s much easier to be miserable than vulnerable
You can save that for the weak and the religious
But there is no justice or no peace, there’s only forgiveness