According to Jesus, our unwillingness to forgive tarnishes our capacity to receive the nourishment and liberation we seek in prayer. Most of us hold tightly to the recollection of all the ways we have been hurt. Closing our fist around how this or that person hurt or dishonored us, we are trapped in a dance of suffering with that person forever. We revisit their abuse every time that person enters our thoughts.

Wayne Muller, Learning to Pray