Clara bit me the other day. She wasn't throwing a fit. She wasn't upset. She just leaned forward and lay into my arm. Hard enough that the blood welled to the surface and today, three days later, I still have a dark bruise on my arm.
Lee asked me if I was angry with her, and I said "why no."
Her asking that made me think of this show I heard on NPR the other day about revenge and forgiveness. The speaker was a biologist and he said that the prevailing view is that people are programmed for revenge, but that forgiveness is something difficult and unnatural, especially if we think of it in the geopolitical realm. However, he claimed that our brains are actually wired for both. We actually forgive lots of little transgressions every single day, and he gave the example of forgiving his son when he wrote on the wall. Forgiveness is what enables us to get along. You're more inclined to forgive your relations, or anyone who offers some value to you.
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