Illustration: Forgiveness

In his book Taking the Risk Out of Dying, Lee Griess reminds us of the cartoon strip, "Calvin and Hobbes." Calvin is a little boy with an overactive imagination and a stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes to life as his imaginary friend. In one cartoon strip, Calvin turns to his friend Hobbes and says, "I feel bad I called Susie names and hurt her feelings. I'm sorry I did that."

Hobbes replies, "Maybe you should apologize to her."

Calvin thinks about it for a moment and then responds, "I keep hoping there's a less obvious solution."

Too many of us keep looking for an alternative to forgiveness!