People say sorry a lot, often leaving its meaning ambiguous. Many of the words we rely upon most are ambiguous. Love, for example, can mean what you feel for your children or your socks—kind of a wide range there.
If we really new what the word meant saying and receiving it will be two different things, but has the same outcome.
God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God said, "I'll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I'm sorry I made them." (Genesis 6:5)
Did God just say get rid! Destroy us all? Is that profound?
Samuel left immediately for Ramah and Saul went home to Gibeah. Samuel had nothing to do with Saul from then on, though he grieved long and deeply over him. But God was sorry he had ever made Saul king in the first place. (1 Samuel 15:34)
Oh God!
Do we know Who we are playing with. “God said in both instances that He was sorry He ever “made”. What would He do next, I don’t want to know. If God feels that way about the use of the word and it’s implication, we haven’t yet to live up to Gods will let alone the person we said it to. I’m sorry, we need to heed that warning can you imaging if God made that statement today. Have mercy Lord. If we live like Jesus, then we would live each waking moment with love, the love that should dwell in our heart should never have to be sorry. If we do need to be sorry are we to realize we made a great mistake and need to take it so serious.
We also use sorry as a predicate adjective, a special type of adjective that follows a linking verb and modifies (directly refers to) the subject of the sentence. In other words, “I’m sorry that . . . ” followed by a pronoun.
I’m sorry that I hurt you. I’m sorry that you’re upset. I’m sorry that he caused you pain. I’m sorry that it’s so difficult. I’m sorry that we are so incompatible about this. I’m sorry that they are so hard on you.
These play indexical roles, like index fingers pointing at the source of the difficulty: the source is me, you, we, or some outside (he, she, it, they) forced, together with plain “sorry,” then, there are five kinds of sorry based on the source of the problem:
1. Me
2. You
3. Us
4. Something or someone outside us
5. Don’t know or won’t venture to say
From whether something is wrong to whose fault it is.
From whose fault it is to whose burden it is to fix it.
From whose burden it is to another topic altogether.
From whose fault it is to whose burden.
From whose problem it is to another topic altogether
1. Me
2. You
3. He
4. She
5. It
6. We
7. They
8. Don’t know
9. Know but won’t say
It just gets more complicated. How do we go forth after saying I’m sorry?
Sorry can be nested in a hierarchy:
Well, I’m sorry . . . Well, I’m sorry you’re sorry . . . Well, I’m sorry you’re sorry I’m sorry . . .
That may sound like a joke but in practice the hierarchy is what often makes conversations about who is and should be sorry such cans of worms:
“Look, I’m sorry.” “For what you did?” “No, that you feel bad when I didn’t do anything wrong.” “But you did do something wrong.” “Well, I’m sorry.” “For what you did?” “No, I’m sorry that you feel I did something wrong when I didn’t.” “I don’t want you sorry that I feel you did something wrong. I want you to apologize for what you did.” “Well, I’m sorry.” “For what you did?” “No I’m sorry that you don’t want me to feel sorry that you want me to feel I did something wrong.” “I don’t want you to, oh, never mind.”
Consider what would have happened in the Garden of Eden if Adam and Eve had repented. God, of course, knew that they had eaten the forbidden fruit as soon as they had done so. But he didn’t immediately confront Adam with his sin; he gave him a chance to repent. He first said to Adam, who was hiding in the bushes, “Where are you?” God knew where he was, but he wanted to give him an opportunity to explain. But Adam did not take advantage of it. He said, “I heard your voice and I was afraid because I was naked.” What he should have said was, “Oh God, I have sinned and done that which you told me not to do. Have mercy on your unworthy servant.” However, God gave him a second chance to repent. He said, “Who told you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat?” The correct answer would have been, “Yes, oh wretched man that I am! Have mercy on me, oh Lord, and forgive my transgression.” But Adam answered, “The woman that you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate.” That is, he blamed God for giving him a defective mate. And we recall that when given the opportunity to repent, Eve employed a similar tactic and blamed the serpent.
What would have happened if Adam and Eve had repented? St. Simeon the New Theologian says, “Had they repented, they would not have been expelled. They would not have been condemned; they would not have been sentenced to return to the earth from which they had been taken.” Instead, God said to them, “dust you are and to dust you shall return.”
Unfortunately, when confronted with our sins, our nature is to act like Adam. We try to avoid the topic, and if pushed, try to shift the blame. Repentance does not come naturally. But we must learn that when dealing with God as when dealing with a loved one, we cannot expect mercy without sincere contrition. Without repentance, as we learn from Adam, we have a great deal to lose. There is more to being sorry.
If we really new what the word meant saying and receiving it will be two different things, but has the same outcome.
God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God said, "I'll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I'm sorry I made them." (Genesis 6:5)
Did God just say get rid! Destroy us all? Is that profound?
Samuel left immediately for Ramah and Saul went home to Gibeah. Samuel had nothing to do with Saul from then on, though he grieved long and deeply over him. But God was sorry he had ever made Saul king in the first place. (1 Samuel 15:34)
Oh God!
Do we know Who we are playing with. “God said in both instances that He was sorry He ever “made”. What would He do next, I don’t want to know. If God feels that way about the use of the word and it’s implication, we haven’t yet to live up to Gods will let alone the person we said it to. I’m sorry, we need to heed that warning can you imaging if God made that statement today. Have mercy Lord. If we live like Jesus, then we would live each waking moment with love, the love that should dwell in our heart should never have to be sorry. If we do need to be sorry are we to realize we made a great mistake and need to take it so serious.
We also use sorry as a predicate adjective, a special type of adjective that follows a linking verb and modifies (directly refers to) the subject of the sentence. In other words, “I’m sorry that . . . ” followed by a pronoun.
I’m sorry that I hurt you. I’m sorry that you’re upset. I’m sorry that he caused you pain. I’m sorry that it’s so difficult. I’m sorry that we are so incompatible about this. I’m sorry that they are so hard on you.
These play indexical roles, like index fingers pointing at the source of the difficulty: the source is me, you, we, or some outside (he, she, it, they) forced, together with plain “sorry,” then, there are five kinds of sorry based on the source of the problem:
1. Me
2. You
3. Us
4. Something or someone outside us
5. Don’t know or won’t venture to say
From whether something is wrong to whose fault it is.
From whose fault it is to whose burden it is to fix it.
From whose burden it is to another topic altogether.
From whose fault it is to whose burden.
From whose problem it is to another topic altogether
1. Me
2. You
3. He
4. She
5. It
6. We
7. They
8. Don’t know
9. Know but won’t say
It just gets more complicated. How do we go forth after saying I’m sorry?
Sorry can be nested in a hierarchy:
Well, I’m sorry . . . Well, I’m sorry you’re sorry . . . Well, I’m sorry you’re sorry I’m sorry . . .
That may sound like a joke but in practice the hierarchy is what often makes conversations about who is and should be sorry such cans of worms:
“Look, I’m sorry.” “For what you did?” “No, that you feel bad when I didn’t do anything wrong.” “But you did do something wrong.” “Well, I’m sorry.” “For what you did?” “No, I’m sorry that you feel I did something wrong when I didn’t.” “I don’t want you sorry that I feel you did something wrong. I want you to apologize for what you did.” “Well, I’m sorry.” “For what you did?” “No I’m sorry that you don’t want me to feel sorry that you want me to feel I did something wrong.” “I don’t want you to, oh, never mind.”
Consider what would have happened in the Garden of Eden if Adam and Eve had repented. God, of course, knew that they had eaten the forbidden fruit as soon as they had done so. But he didn’t immediately confront Adam with his sin; he gave him a chance to repent. He first said to Adam, who was hiding in the bushes, “Where are you?” God knew where he was, but he wanted to give him an opportunity to explain. But Adam did not take advantage of it. He said, “I heard your voice and I was afraid because I was naked.” What he should have said was, “Oh God, I have sinned and done that which you told me not to do. Have mercy on your unworthy servant.” However, God gave him a second chance to repent. He said, “Who told you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat?” The correct answer would have been, “Yes, oh wretched man that I am! Have mercy on me, oh Lord, and forgive my transgression.” But Adam answered, “The woman that you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate.” That is, he blamed God for giving him a defective mate. And we recall that when given the opportunity to repent, Eve employed a similar tactic and blamed the serpent.
What would have happened if Adam and Eve had repented? St. Simeon the New Theologian says, “Had they repented, they would not have been expelled. They would not have been condemned; they would not have been sentenced to return to the earth from which they had been taken.” Instead, God said to them, “dust you are and to dust you shall return.”
Unfortunately, when confronted with our sins, our nature is to act like Adam. We try to avoid the topic, and if pushed, try to shift the blame. Repentance does not come naturally. But we must learn that when dealing with God as when dealing with a loved one, we cannot expect mercy without sincere contrition. Without repentance, as we learn from Adam, we have a great deal to lose. There is more to being sorry.
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