We’ve reached that point in the year when the exhibitions of color give way to the task of raking all of that beauty into piles. Leaf-raking never really ends. Even if every scrap of foliage is gathered up and moved to the curb, the hours to come will bring more color dancing down to the lawn again.

We take up the task weekly or sometimes daily, but we don’t fool ourselves into thinking the job is done. This is Pennsylvania, after all.

A quote from C.S. Lewis made me think of leaves and rakes:

The real trouble about the duty of forgiveness is that you do it with all your might on Monday and then find on Wednesday that it hasn’t stayed put and all has to be done over again.

C.S. Lewis

Lewis is referring specifically to the fact that a doctor failed to diagnose his wife’s cancer in time for the necessary treatments. The doctor’s negligence was an offense that Lewis had to forgive. As he describes here, however, that forgiveness was not a one-time task.

Usually, the challenge of forgiveness is highlighted as a huge task when someone hurts us multiple times. Our sense of fairness objects to any further extension of grace since the offender has repeated the crimes.

This is the scenario Jesus answers when Peter suggests a forgiveness limit of seven. Jesus tells him to multiply that number out a few times. In other words, keep forgiving (Matthew 18:21-22; Luke 17:3-4).

As Lewis describes above, forgiving one offense (let alone multiple offenses) can be challenging enough. When we have been hurt by the sins of another, the memories do not wash away even after we’ve extended grace.

We’ll recall a certain tone of voice. We’ll recreate the exact setting. We’ll replay even the most sordid details. We’ll feel the old angers rise up again. We’ll realize again just how unfair it was to forgive. Its at that time that you realize the leaves are crowding the lawn again. What you did with all your might on Monday must be done again on Wednesday.

It is helpful to remember just how much grace and mercy has been extended to us. Jesus tells the parable of the man who owed the king a huge sum. After the king forgave the debt, the man went to a fellow citizen and demanded repayment of a much smaller debt (Matthew 18:23-35). That’s us. The worst offense we have suffered and have such a hard time forgiving… how does that one offense stack up against the volume of sins forgiven by God through Christ?

Those who have tried to forgive will find it is one of the toughest assignments of the Christian life. Forgiving offenses is the practical expression of Jesus’ command to love our enemies. It doesn’t feel fair. It never feels complete. Sometimes only time can help as old memories fade and dampen old resentments. But forgetting is not the same as forgiving.

Remember that God did not leave us on our own for these, the most strenuous steps in the journey. The Spirit will help us muster the strength to forgive. And He’ll help us again on Wednesday.