Recently, my friend's daughter spilled water on my computer keyboard and ruined it. I wasn't home at the time. My friend replaced the keyboard and had her daughter write a note of apology to me. I wish I had kept it because it was perfect. The daughter was 7 so I'm sure she was coached, but it had these elements:
1. She explained what she had broken
2. How it had happened
3. That she knew it was wrong and that she shouldn't have had a drink nearby
4. That she won't do it again
5. That she would replace the keyboard with a new one
6. She still wanted to be friends with me.
I appreciated that her mother had taught her how to repent of a wrong-doing. It made me remember when I was about that age and had accidentally hit a Christmas light hanging from the roof and broken it. Similarly, I had written a note of apology. I was grateful when the owner of the house wrote back to me to say she had forgiven me. I remember feeling my burden being lifted.
I am aware of another situation where someone was wronged and the person who did it wrote a note of apology. However, the wronged person did not respond at all and it is very hard when one has made an effort to repent but is not receiving the gift of forgiveness. I'm learning some lessons.
A good thank you note, thoughtfully composed, is humbling and really makes you think about how you came up short in your behavior. I'm grateful for those who have forgiven me. I pray the others will forgive me.
Of course, this makes me think of Jesus Christ who taught us to forgive all. And, if we hope for our own forgiveness, it is a given that we must forgive others.
