Friday, April 24, 2009

Analgesics and Curatives

Facts do not automatically (or even often) soothe the ragged edges of astonishment. Nor do explanations cure betrayal's deep lacerations. To know why something happened as it did, the how's and when's, the where's and to what extent's, may scab the wound--but if what happened should not have happened at all, terrible hurt remains.

Thick applications of explanation, squeezed from a tube of secrecy--and especially if the tube was purposely hidden behind mirrored doors among cosmetic pledges and atomized assurances
--are temporary palliatives, if that.

Time. Mercy. Confession--on the part of the betrayer and betrayed--repentance, all around: that is the recipe, or should I say, "prescription," the only prescription, which can begin real healing.

1 comment:

Anne Lang Bundy said...

Many years ago I heard "It's easier to obtain forgiveness than permission" and started to live like that.

Then I came to understand the cost to a relationship of not getting permission, and the high price of forgiveness.

The only way to live with neighbor is to treat him or her the way I want to be treated. The only way to live with God is to love Him as Lord, and remember that I'm made of dirt made alive only because He's breathed upon me.