Change Is The Only Real Atonement.

Atonement, at least the the way I see it from my own personal experience, has a couple of definite, identifiable qualities. First, there is an obviously sincere regret for  actions, thoughts or words. Another is that the atoner has a clear and realistic understanding of the situation from the offended's point of view. In other words, they have an empathetic understanding of the offense. A third and perhaps the most important quality is the actual changing of the offensive/offending behavior, thoughts or words. Change indicates that someone has ingested and digested the essence of their error, and that their remorse has produced quantifiable results. That to my mind is the definition of "Atonement."  

 If a person is truly sorry for the pain or burden that they inflicted upon another or even themselves, they'll not want to do it again. Hence, they will commit to not doing it again. That commitment is an act of will, and that is the most important quality we, as humans, can exercise. We choose, exercise our free will, to change. There is no more important indicator of sincerity and commitment than that.

Yes. There are those who want to change and try to change but can't really do it. That's another issue.  I'm proceeding here from the belief that most of us are capable of exerting that act of will successfully. We are capable of consciously changing our behavior. If we do that, then we and everyone else knows the depth of the sincerity of the remorse. That sincerity expressed in the action of change is atonement to me, and that, to my mind, makes it an idea worth repeating.

Just a thought, an idea, that I wanted to explore.