“Forgive Me”
I decided to photograph folk holding a sign which said simply “Forgive Me”. Upon viewing the photographs I could choose to practice releasing my ideas about that person and maybe provoke thoughts about forgiveness in other viewers.
I Imagined someone whose thoughts were tortured by the mistakes of a doctor. I imagined that maybe seeing a doctor holding the “Forgive Me” sign they might realize that forgiveness was a possibility. A possibility to let go of the burden of holding all doctors to blame. It seems like life can be a collection of incidents with people and judgments attached. I’ve found it helpful to release some of these incidents and free up my vision for a fresh look.
My spiritual path requires forgiveness. I need people to reflect back to me the positions and attitudes which cloud my vision. Having no luck recognizing or releasing these attitudes myself, I can forgive them in others thereby letting myself off the hook a little at a time. Forgiveness is the recognition of perceptual error. To forgive is not to condone but to open myself to the chance that my perception may be limited or skewed. I can’t possibly know what your path entails, where you’ve been and what your motivations are. My judgement limits me.
