As I pray this morning
about forgiveness
the words of a song
pop into my head.

“I get knocked down
but I get up again.
You’re never going
to keep my down!”

I struggle with forgiveness,
you see.
I mean to forgive
and I believe that I have forgiven.
Then,
somebody says something
and in that instant
a memory of that incident
fills my mind
and I find,
to my disappointment,
that the resentment
remains.

This can happen
days, weeks, months
or even decades
after the event.

I can’t speak for others
but I feel that, in my case,
forgiveness is a decision.
Not a decision
that I get to make
once and for all,
but one that I have to make
repeatedly
every single time
that a resentful memory
comes to mind.

Lord,
give me the grace
to make the decision to forgive
as many times
as it takes
so that I too may say,
just like the song,
“I get knocked
but I get up again!”

© Claire Murray, 10th November 2022