The Long Road to Forgiveness

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version
Title The Long Road to Forgiveness
Publication Type Web Article
Pub Year 1999
Authors Layton, M.
Publisher Utne Reader
Keywords fairness, forgiveness
Notes forgiveness"In contrast to justice and acceptance, forgiveness is not only the recovery of our spirit, but also the enlargement of that spirit--somehow, some way--to imagine the humanity of the injuring person. And why would we want that?

In a great injury, something is broken, psychologically or spiritually. The break not only erodes our sense of living in a fair world, corrupts our experience of our own worth, and fragments our control over our own lives and emotions; it also fundamentally damages our faith in the worthiness of others. It is that loss of the other that we absorb, and somehow transform, in forgiveness."

URL http://www.utne.com/1999-03-01/ApologyNotAccepted.aspx