P. Diddy freestyling at the menu.

I had a pseudo-almost-argument with a friend of mine last week over apologies. My friend asked if I had seen something on television and after I clarified a few things I was left to say, "Doesn't ring any bells," which I think in a face-to-face conversation would have more obviously prompted the did-you-see to be described. But it's different with text-messages. After a moment I reflected on my textiquette and wrote, "Sorry - I'm not trying to be short; I'm just at work."

My friend's response, with typical lightning speed: "If you ever apologize to me again we are no longer friends." I think this is funny. I know there is some shred of truth in there, maybe not that it's a deal-breaker but that it is a legitimate preference/request. I would like to say how apologizing is my right, how apologizing is needed when an offense has been committed, how sometimes apologizing means nothing to the recipient but needs to be delivered by the apologizer but, again, this is texting. And I'm supposed to be working. And I know my friend will pish-posh all of that.

Even still, I will not submit...I refuse to say, "OK I will never say 'sorry' again because I want to keep being your friend." Lame. I settle on, "No deal."
A few beats: "It's not an option." This one jolts me slightly as it sounds like maybe someone is in less of a lighthearted mood than I originally thought.

More thinking...I'm still trying to figure out how to distill my views on apologies into something that is both simple enough to fit a text well and also something my friend would understand and even agree with.
My selection: "You're that sure I'll never be wrong again? That's a lotta pressure.." Sure, I am using some rhetoric, but I'm still sincere.
And lightning strikes again: "Lol. I'm sure you'll be wrong again I just don't care. :)"


Huh.


I had a distinct, "huh" moment. I remember exactly where I was standing and what I was doing as I read this and something in my brain bzoing!-ed as I was interpreting the words and then grappling with the concept. At the first, I was shocked by what my friend had written, though it's not particularly out of character. But then my brain started whirring into high gear finding a deeper meaning there.

God knows future offenses & wrongs will occur but He's already over them--He loves us too much. He sees past that. He doesn't dwell. He doesn't wish us to be held back by guilt or mired in hopelessness or self-loathing. "I know you'll sin again, but I don't care. :)" In God's case it's not that sinning is overlooked but that His love remains unwavering and that penitent gymnastics are useless and perhaps, in cases, aggravating.

Sigh. I cherish this little blips of epiphanies that I can find in the most innocuous exchanges or situations. God bless America.