We all know, to err is human and to forgive is Divine. When we are wounded by some one's thoughtlessness, rejection or deliberate cruelty, we can try to get even or pretend that we have not been hurt. We can do something that on the surface it is absurd, illogical and divine. We can forgive.

But how fluently we quote the soul uplifting advice, yet how rarely we follow it. If a friend fails us once, we brood on his ingratitude. If a neighbour or office colleague says something bad about us, we immediately strike back.

We go through life paying back meanness with more meanness, so adding to the world's misery and our own shame and unhappiness.We harbour resentment, nurture revenge and reap only a crop of bitterness, frustration resulting in a mode of life that is devoid of hope, of happiness and of good health.

It is better to be God like and forgive. We must be charitable and forget the bad incidence; If we have anything to pardon, it is better to pardon quickly. In a sense the forgetting part is just as important as the forgiving, for we can hardly be said to forgive if we dwell upon past injuries.

The most popular misconception about forgiveness is that we forgive and we forget. But most of the time we don't forget.When the real efforts of forgiveness takes place, there is nothing easy about it. Instinct urges us to pay back in kind.

There is usually a pause between the anguish and the time when trust and love can take root again. Forgiveness is part of a process that begins with sufferings and ends with the event of reconciliation. It works only when we become aware of the depths and causes of the anger burning in us so that we can forgive whole heartedly and ensure enduring peace.

Too often we bypass forgiveness entirely. The ability to forgive cannot be rushed. We owe it to each other to offer time to confront our sufferings, only then can real healing begin. A particularly helpful exercise in the process of forgiveness is to try to understand the one who is wounding us as a person and not just as the cause of our pain.

A declaration of forgiveness may appear as simple, weak and even outrageous. When Jesus said 'Love your enemy', He meant every word of it. We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate. We can rid of the enemy by getting rid of enmity.

Forgiveness depends on the situation and the people involved. In the end all forgivers do the same thing - they restore self worth to the offender, they cancel a debt, they experience such peace that they lose the urge to retaliate. They live as freer persons. The benefits are beyond measure.