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So, a Friday night means no classes the next day. With that, it's spectacular to spend the evening doing nothing. Well… by nothing, I mean nothing constructive. Well… by nothing constructive, I mean that we stayed up way past midnight. Still, that's when people have their best conversations.

What is it about tobacco that whenever I smoke it, the topic of conversation switches to theology? I think there's something in the plant that maybe makes us more theologically aware. Look at C. S. Lewis. I could picture Paul or Augustine puffing a pipe, but Europeans and Near Easterners didn't even have tobacco until the sixteenth century.¹ However, it's not what we were smoking that was important; it was the conversations afterwards that held the most meaning.

I realised that I still needed to complete an assignment due at noon on Saturday. Details aside, I ended up in the Smith basement at 2:00 AM. I happened to have to bum a quarter off of someone for a Coke, and, to be polite, I joined in on their conversation. We discussed communion, liberal Christianity, the problems with Pentecostalism, how the gift of speaking in tongues would apply to deaf people who utilise sign languages,² Christian kids songs³ and apologies. It was the last topic that aroused my attention. It was about should we or should we not apologise for minor errors.

Personally, I used to be a big believer in apologising for everything, forgiving everything and overlooking nothing. Today, I still believe in apologising for everything. I still believe in forgiving everything. However, my thoughts on overlooking things have changed. There once was a time when I didn't talk to my own brother for nearly four years because of a very, very minor fault that he never apologised for. It's sad that I didn't overlook it; I valued an apology more than a relationship.

Regardless of whether or not a fault should be overlooked, I do not believe that we have a privilege to assume or suggest that someone should forgive our faults; that's completely up to them. If we are going to go through the trouble of suggesting that someone overlook our faults, we might as well just admit that we screwed up and apologise. It's the prime example of schmuckness when we mess up then tell someone else not to be upset — even if it is true!

Despite the amazingness of 2:00 AM conversations, they don't make for good 3:00 AM reflections. In short, I'm going to sleep and sleep in.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_exchange
2. Since all topics regarding language at SIL will always be reevaluated in light of sign languages.
3. Specifically, “I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N”.