In which I investigate the limits of forgiveness...

I've been working on this poem for some months now. But at its heart lies a spiritual question I've been asking for decades. Namely, why hasn't God forgiven Satan? If God is all-forgiving, then surely God can forgive even Satan. This spiritual query then opens up more questions: Does Satan want to be forgiven? What does forgiving Satan even look like or mean?

These questions and their answers are all highly subjective and personal. Everyone has a different understanding and view of God and the spiritual life...a spectrum of belief to non-belief, a spectrum of tangibility varying from God as a truly physical entity to God as an incomprehensible metaphor for creation and creative forces that surround us. Opposing God, in the most simplistic way possible to state it, is Satan.

To me, the thought of forgiving Satan was never as simple as one might forgive another human being for some wrong or evil doing. It is far more profound, esoteric, and detached. It means, ultimately, forgiving the most heinous of human acts against other humans. It also means that the individual attempting such forgiveness can't speak for all humanity. It is a personal, individual forgiveness that is directed more toward forces one cannot control while at the same time recognizing them as wrong or evil, and struggling in one's own small way against such injustices.

This question for me remains unanswered. It is a dwelling point, a paradox for spiritual exploration. As a simple and familiar example in Buddhism, one is asked to contemplate the sound of one hand clapping. Can this question ever be answered? Our rational mind says such a sound is not possible. But such a question isn't meant of rational analysis. It's a doorway into spiritual and philosophical exploration.

To that end, my question of whether I can forgive Satan is ultimately itself a spiritual pursuit possibly without answer. But that is okay.

Below is one poem that has come out of these ruminations. It is more of a chant really, and helps me calm down when I'm faced with monolithic, faceless evil beyond my control. It is written in chant form so that my weak memory can recall it fully, especially effective when under duress and enraged at some injustice.

(As a side note, I sent this to a trusted acquaintance of mine who happens to be a contemplative monastic in the Camaldolese order. He was gracious enough to say he believes the poem makes Jesus smile, and had the Devil in tears. I'm just glad I'm not already a heretic one week after becoming a new Catholic.)

A Chant Of Forgiveness

I forgive you,

the Great Deceiver.

For all the chaos

caused in this world,

I forgive you.

I forgive you,

the Potent Enemy.

For all the violence

caused in this world,

I forgive you.

I forgive you,

the Greedy Mammon.

For all the want

caused in this world,

I forgive you.

I forgive you,

the Prideful One.

For all the ignorance

caused in this world,

I forgive you.

I forgive you,

the Incarnate Fear.

For all the hate

caused in this world,

I forgive you.

I forgive you,

Satan,

for the gratitude you've withheld;

for the grace you've ignored;

for the love you've abandoned;

I pity you,

             and I forgive you.