According to Jewish teaching, you cannot ask God to forgive you for a transgression against another person, people must work that out on their own. I like that teaching because it keeps us on the hook for our behavior. Of course, just because I like it does not mean that it's easy to do.

I remember last year I asked R___ to forgive me. It was hard to do...we were standing by a tree at the Pacific Grove triathlon and I somehow managed to get it out. He was quite gracious about it and, in keeping with his good character, did forgive me. So he said. I chose/choose to trust him. Of course, I was desperate for his forgiveness, having harbored both guilt and regret for several months at that point.

In my current scenario, there is neither guilt, regret or romance involved..it's like, I have forsaken a friendship, which was the right thing to do...I just don't like how I went about doing it...and it is for that I am seeking forgiveness. The Days of Awe last for about 8 more days...I am hoping to figure it out before this period ends.