Following is a humorous story about a father, a son, and two of his daughters. The story centers around the strong will of a little girl and her ability to repent of her wrongdoing.
Years ago, when this father’s children were young, one of his daughters had done something wrong and had been sent to her room by her mother. There, in solitary confinement, the youngster was to languish until she, with a repentant heart, said she was "sorry." The father was just about to enter his young daughter’s room to reinforce Mom's judgment when the father heard her brother give her this advice: "All you have to do is say you're sorry. You don't have to really mean it." That would be an example of “pretend” repentance or “half-hearted” repentance. The father was looking for a full-blown, unequivocal statement of repentance. Nothing else would do. After all, the father’s resolve to properly raise his children to say nothing of his credibility was on the line as his son and other daughter were quietly watching and waiting to see what would happen next. The father didn’t give up and the daughter stayed in her bedroom until the period of her punishment concluded.
It wasn’t too long after this incident occurred that the father’s other daughter became entangled in a similar circumstance. She also had misbehaved and had been sent to her bedroom for punishment.
This second daughter, too, had been told she could come out of her bedroom and join the rest of the family fun when she apologized and said she was sorry. Five minutes went by; ten minutes; then, fifteen minutes lapsed.
Finally, the door to her bedroom opened ever so slowly with a slight creak. The daughter poked her head out into the hallway. Noticing this and thinking how humbled his daughter must be by that time, the father asked "Well, young lady” the father began in an acutely stern, fatherly tone of voice which never managed to fool anybody, especially his daughters. "Well, young lady…, are you sorry enough to come out of your bedroom so you can join the rest of the family fun?" And can you believe it, she said, with the sweetest and tenderest tone in her voice "Not right now, Daddy. But I am sorry enough now to leave the door open a little bit to see what that is like."
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