Sisters talk too much!

I went down to my sister, Jennie's house yesterday to take her a piece of buttermilk-chess pie that I had made. After eating it quickly, she said that she had been talking about me to one of our mutual friends, Bill. She said that she asked him if he knew the difference between me and God. When he replied in the negative, she said "God forgives".

If there had been any pie left, I would have taken it and left. When sisters know about my character flaws and recite them to others, I cannot deny their existence.

I hurried home and continued reading. This time, I pulled off a sermon by Rabbi Stahl on Forgiveness. Mostly why we won't or can't forgive!

He writes: "First of all, usually the people that offend us the most cruelly are those who are closest to us. As hurt and hostile as we are about them, we none the less try our best to hold on to them and don't want them to go. We fear breaking a connection with those who offend us. ..Sigmund Freud captured the significance of this hesitation when he once said, "When I have forgiven a fellow everything, I am through with him." Am I not forgiving because I do not want to break a family tie that was supposed to last to eternity?

I left that first reason to go to the second, "we fail to forgive because we want to nurse our grudges." Closer to my truth. I am justified and I want the world to know it. I ask myself if that is enough reason to hold on!

It reminded me of a three way conversation when I was ordained a deacon in a church which had never ordained a woman. One woman said, "I'm against this. The men will never do another thing in the church if we ordain women!" My mother answered, "Is that enough reason to hold on?"

Sisters talk too much. That's okay when they are wrong. Not so hot when they are close to being right!