A question you should ask yourself before you begin to tackle the art of forgiveness is this： How many of us are ever completely innocent in any given situation？
Some years ago， my wife， Cornelia， and I bought a piece of cheap， flat-packed， pine veneered furniture. For the first few months， it fooled everyone it was smart， functional and impressive， and we felt it fitted our home perfectly. But as time rolled by， the veneer slowly began to peel at the edges. It didn’t create the same impression any more， but at least it was being honest！ The fact is that， like it or not， behind our smart veneer， we’re all just chipboard. So before we become other people’s judge and jury， we’d be wise to take a long， hard look at ourselves in the mirror. And the more we see ourselves， warts and all， the more we’ll want to and be able to forgive others for their flaws， and the more we forgive， the more we’ll know true contentment.
