Those who get to payback or peacemakers. We have a choice on which we will be.
In a lecture on forgiveness, and its limits, Elizabeth Bruenig described her two children fighting. They knew hitting each other was against the rules, punishable by the docking of allowance. But they also knew there was an exception: if you did not instigate or start the fight, that is, if you were acting in self-defense you were not considered the aggressor. Your allowance would remain.
I’ve never watched It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but my favorite meme comes from an episode where Charlie thinks he’s discovered a “major conspiracy.”
