The tragedy ...
This morning, March 7, 2012, I tried to park in the parking area near the covered courts of the Ateneo college. Suddenly a car pulled up as I was looking for a place where I could park. Then I blew the horn loudly because the back of his car hit the left side of my car but he still continued and as a result, the back of his car hit the side of my car. At first I did not hear any noise that could have resulted in a collision but when I got out of the car after I found a vacant place to park a long scratch startled me. I was bored and I talked to the guard if he noticed the car that hit me and he said no so I just told him to look at their CCTV camera so they can determine who hit me and I will come back to them.
This story may not be for you but when it happens to you, will you not be annoyed as well? Yes, of course you will also be annoyed because someone scratched your car and did not even apologize but when he apologized, will you forgive?
Forgive me ...
God has already taught us that we should forgive those who have wronged us. It is not possible for you to forgive someone for the rest of your life because you will surely be relieved of it later. There are times when you can't really forgive someone for what they did when they killed or committed another serious crime such as murder but often, people forgive other people. It is easy to forgive but there is something harder to do with forgiveness and that is ...
Forget ...
Yes, it is easy to forgive but not easy to forget. Just an example is what happened to me. If the one who hit me would have approached me I would have forgiven him but of course, I will never forget he did that. Why? This is because of the marks he left on my car. My car has a long scratch and this is a sign that what he did to my car will never be erased. These things don't just happen in the car. Another example is love.
In love, you will do everything to make your loved one your spouse. Let's say you've been married to someone you've always wanted. You suddenly find out that your spouse is meeting another man or woman. You'll get hurt a lot, won't you? Of course, you will not talk for long because he hurt you but after a while, you will forgive him for what he did to you. You can forgive him (even if it is difficult for you) but can you forget it? I don't think it's because there are memories to let you know that this man or woman hurt you.
People who are hurt in love may feel this way. It is difficult for them to forgive and they have a decision to forgive or not. Do you think it was a decision to forget?
Contrast ...
Forgiveness and forgetfulness are two different things. Forgiveness happens when you want to be friends and still do something wrong to you or not. You can choose whether you want to forgive or not. You may find it difficult to forgive because something bad has happened to you so you cannot make a decision right away.
For forgetfulness, this is not a decision. You can not choose whether you want to forget something or not (as long as you do not have any pain to forget things and anesthesia). It is because of your memory. You only have the memory to tell you this thing happened. You can't erase it so this event is always in your brain. Memories can be said to be the permanent mark to remind you that something like this has happened to you, whether it is happy or sad.
Last words ...
I will return to the guard in the parking area tomorrow morning to find out the plate number and the name of the person who ran into me. Of course, I could not be bothered by this incident because there were scratches on the car to remind me that I had collided with someone, a sign that I will never forget it. He may apologize (and he must pay for what happened to my car) and I will forgive him, but I will never forget.
Whoever says the line "forgive and forget", all I can say is "forgive but you can never forget."
"Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names"
-John F. Kennedy
Geronimo Miguel M. Mantes
Fil12-DD
Mr. Edgar Samar
