Forgiveness: Stories for Our TIme

Our religious and spiritual teachers encourage us to forgive, as if we know how to do that and naturally want to. Yet forgiveness is actually a complex and nuanced experience, especially complicated when great loss has resulted from an injury. How do people who have lost loved ones to murder, politically motivated violence, sexual abuse, mass murder, relate to the idea of forgiveness? What inspires some to consciously work towards a sense of forgiveness while others simply accept that some acts may, for them, be unforgivable? Does moving forward require forgiveness or is it rather an acceptance of where we really are and a support for ourselves? By telling the stories of several people who have faced the loss of loved ones through unspeakable violence, Johanna Lunn examined the question of forgiveness from many angles. What does she have to say about the effect of forgiving, or not forgiving, on our lives?