Article March 11, 1967 Issue

The Science of Forgiveness

ROBERT EDWARD ZWILLING

A young homemaker raked up a neat pile of leaves in her backyard and set fire to them, unaware that her neighbor's wash was on the line. A few days later while hanging out her own laundry she was horrified to observe her neighbor perform a similar task with raked leaves. As she hurriedly pulled the clothespins from her smoky wash, she overheard the neighbor say, "Do unto others."

It was years before the sting of this flippant twist to the Golden Rule was forgotten. However, in a relatively short time the incident was said to be forgiven. The full import of Christ Jesus' words, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them,"^{Matt. 7:12;} adjusted the thoughts of these two people, and eventually, through the logic of events, they met in a cordial atmosphere.

Some questions naturally arise. Was the forgiveness in this incident selective, or is there a law which when put into operation makes forgiveness certain and complete? Can forgiveness be practiced scientifically?

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