When You Bury the Hatchet, Don't Leave the Handle Sticking Out of the Ground

How forgiveness goes wrong and what we can do to fix it.

Photo by Kevin Schmid on Unsplash

Actions vs Words

“Burying the hatchet” is a helpful image of forgiveness.

I imagine a Sioux Indian chief and a Colonel in the U.S. Cavalry meeting upon a hill on the southern plains. The Native American wielding his tomahawk and the officer, his pistol. Both parties represent warring factions that have been inflicting woun…