Of course it's easier to say forgive than do it. Like an incident when I was a kid - minding my own business with a mate in the park when set upon by a little tike and his little mob. He took his belt off to have a go at me, but I soon stopped that and we then fell to wrestling on the ground. He then resorted to biting, and eventually his mates all joined in and proceeded to use my head as a football. It was only my crying out that I couldn't see - my vision going rather blurry understandably - that they stopped this and left. Fortunately my vision problem was only temporary, but it might not have been.
Was I keen to forgive him and his gang of boneheads? Not likely, but he probably got the belt idea from his dad - being beaten by him. And all too often it comes down to that - a poor early childhood. I still don't understand why so many who kick the heads of others as they lie on the ground don't get harsher sentences since quite a lot of damage can be done - even death.
I remember similar incidents when I was a kid. I had a rock thrown at my head when I was 3. I can still feel the ridge in my forehead. (Yes, I am literally "cracked" in the head, in case anyone was really wondering. I've had some other nasty head injuries, but I'm still chugging along.)
After a time, I started to learn to fight back and got into a few scrapes here and there - at least enough to keep most of my former tormentors off my back. I wasn't keen to forgive anyone either, although they weren't asking for forgiveness anyway. When I was a kid, it was often felt that if one kid hit another kid, and the other kid hit him back, then they were "even" and could then go their separate ways in peace. I don't know if that qualifies as "forgiveness," though.
But kicking someone while they're down goes beyond the standard playground fight. That's a criminal offense.
