"The Economy of the Heart" on 43Folders.com

I wrote this short piece for Merlin Mann's 43Folders.com, because I think Merlin and his site are neat. It's about forgiveness.

I'm not a Christian anymore. Perhaps I got a raw deal when God was passing out churches--mine was shaken apart in my late teens by a pastor who got busted for sneaking a few hundred thousand out of the offering plate to buy Nazi war memorabilia, not to mention banging a few dozen women who came to him for marriage counseling--but I've made my peace with the Prince of it.

One particularly Christian principle has apparently stuck with me over the years. It wasn't until recently that I rediscovered it. (Not animal sacrifice, which I never abandoned.) And whether Jesus of Nazareth existed as a real meat person or was the product of a coterie of desert sci-fi novelists, one thing he taught has been helping me a lot lately.

It's awfully nice to forgive.

Read the rest. [43Folders.com]