Luke·Mercy·21 of 34
They know not
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
Luke 23:34 · King James Version
Forgiveness sees the act as unconsciousness, and refuses to seal the person inside it.
An inner reading
Spoken from the cross, this is not a theory of mild offenses. It is mercy at the point where the separate self would be most entitled to close. “They know not” is the metaphysical key. Cruelty, folly, and violence proceed from a mind that does not see what it is — a case of ignorance before it is a case of essence. To call it ignorance is not to call it harmless. It is to refuse to define a soul by its blindness.
The prayer is addressed to the Father, not negotiated with the crowd. Forgiveness of this order is not a feeling you owe an abuser on demand, and it does not require staying in harm. It is an inner release: you decline to keep the other — or yourself — imprisoned in the worst moment. What they knew not, you ask not to be the last word.