WN: This was prepared in 2005 for a church curriculum.
An excerpt:
Forgiveness is not only the ultimate “craft” for all wishing to become fully human, it is also ticket to freedom and joy.
New Testament theologian Luke Timothy Johnson says the greatest act of forgiveness must be towards our fathers (or parents, one could add). Simone Weil, 20th-century French Christian intellectual and mystic, says the greatest act of forgiveness must be towards God. Another huge area of forgiveness must be towards ourselves.
In Clint Eastwood’s film, Unforgiven, through the violent genre of the Western which made him famous, he explores what happens to people when forgiveness is not offered, repentance for sins not made. The film unravels in a violent shoot-out at the end, where there is no redemption. It is a depiction of invariable violence elicited when one is in a state of unforgiveness.
Please click on: The Craft of Forgiveness
