Saturday roundup and ramble

This fallout from a tragic, not uncommon situation, is so perfectly phrased:

"Forgiveness isn't about saying, 'It's OK,' or that you 'accept' or 'approve' what happened," Blanton said. "Forgiveness is the acknowledgment that what happened, happened, and that you are now ready to set down the baggage, the pain and the fear."

"There simply is no other way," Friedman agreed.

Blanton finds that when a person forgives they no longer take action based on feelings of revenge, anger or fear, but instead make decisions based on their own character.

"If I consider myself a good person, a generous person, but then act meanly or selfishly because someone has treated me that way, then I allow their actions to determine my character and my actions," Blanton said.

Surprise! Factory farming is the enemy of humanity.

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On a quasi-lighter note, I want to talk about using personal history or upbringing as an excuse. Sometimes people don't even mean it that way, but it tends to come off that way, even when it's just an explanation, and it always comes off as an exceptionally lame excuse because you're an adult and you've had time to deal with the issue. Example: a coworker who volunteered to get burger toppings  for our team picnic got cabbage instead of lettuce. Not the end of the world, but when she said, "my mother didn't use vegetables when I was a kid" by way of explanation, one could only think, "but it's been a while since you've been a child, so what does that have to do with anything?" But the bigger issue is, who the f* cares? I wouldn't dream of explaining my behavior by way of, "I throw a fit when I don't get my way because that's the behavior that was modeled to me by my mother." Just sayin'.