You will find that "Father, forgive them..." quote in the Bible, at Luke 23:34. It spotlights what I would have to say is a profound spiritual insight. Jesus is about to be crucified, and that's what he says: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
I have previously noted that "forgiveness" is a key requirement for us, citing to Marilynne Robinson's book, Reading Genesis. You will also find a "forgive them" suggestion (or is it a "commandment"?) in the "Lord's Prayer," a copy of which is provided immediately below (emphasis added):
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
A "close reading" of the "Lord's Prayer" provides this insight: Jesus frames "forgiveness" (for us) as a quid pro quo. We should expect forgiveness for our "trespasses" to the extent that we "forgive those who trespass against us." You've got to give something to get something, in other words. That's what the, "as we forgive..." construction actually means.
I got to thinking about "forgiveness," as I began today's blog posting, not because I was reading the Bible, but because I was reading The Wall Street Journal. The picture at the top came from an article by James Kimmel, Jr., who is a lawyer, a lecturer in psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, and the founder and co-director of the Yale Collaborative for Motive Control Studies. Kimmel is counted as a breakthrough scholar and expert on revenge and forgiveness, and has identified compulsive revenge seeking as an addiction.
If The Journal's paywall protection policies permit you to read it, here's a link to Kimmel's article: "This Is Your Brain On Revenge." Our politics is wallowing deeply in "revenge," helping to perpetuate the "polarization" that is making us blind to the genuine truth that "we are in this together."
If you can't get access to Kimmel's article, allow me to observe that the Bible is easily available online!
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