Posts in the ‘Forgiveness’ Category

Shivering, he cried for forgiveness. “I come to you as a prodigal son. Please forgive me.” The two women whose materials had been stolen emerged from the congregation and gave him a big hug.

For the Amish, forgiveness is not only a dutiful response to tragedy, it is a way of life — a long, emotional journey.

Charlie Roberts said in a suicide note that he hated God after the death of his first child. Faced with similar suffering…his mother has taken the opposite path. Her son cursed God; she trusts in prayer. Her son acted out his rage; she reaches out for reconciliation.

“And I am impressed with our church members who, on the day after the break-in, were already talking about forgiving and moving on and how God could bring something good out of this.”

Guy Mande: Forgiveness, also arose as a difficult process to deal with but again necessary for reconciliation within a given community. How can those who committed several atrocities be allowed to walk freely on the streets without any sense of accountability or reparation?

BBC News covers the extraordinary act of forgiveness by Rais Bhuiyan, a Bangladeshi Muslim, who reached out to his attempted murderer on death row to forgive and plea for his clemency.

Dick Staub: The Aramaic word to forgive means to “untie.” Jesus knew that the fastest way to free himself from his enemies was to untie himself from their negativity through forgiving them.

Harriet Jane Olson – Reconciliation expresses an important concept in the Bible and in Christian teaching. We are invited to participate in God’s work by being reconciled to God and to others and by taking on the ministry of reconciliation.

Choosing to forgive is an act of the will primarily for your benefit, but also for the benefit of the other. Forgiveness involves risk. It involves the willingness to coexist. It best comes through engagement with the other.

http://www.ep-video.com/ UMPH’s “Living the Good Life Together” video on “Crafting Communities of Forgiveness”, featuring Peter Storey, shares the story of reconciliation within churches affected by apartheid in South Africa and the resulting lessons of forgiveness for us. For order information on this series, go tohttp://www.cokesbury.com