The Gift of Forgiveness
Inspiring Stories from Those Who Have Overcome the Unforgivable
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Average rating4
15
Inspiring Stories from Those Who Have Overcome the Unforgivable
Ratings1
Average rating4
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! “[The Gift of Forgiveness] will spark conversations across families, across friendships, at workplaces, everywhere.” –Maria Shriver A fresh, inspiring book on learning how to forgive, with firsthand stories from those who have learned to let go of resentment and find peace. "When we learn to embrace forgiveness, it opens us up to healing, hope, and a new world of possibility." --Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt Written with grace and understanding and based on more than twenty in-depth interviews and stories as well as personal reflections from Schwarzenegger Pratt herself, The Gift of Forgiveness is about one of the most difficult challenges in life--learning to forgive. Here, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt shows us what we can learn from those who have struggled with forgiveness, some still struggling, and others who have been able to forgive what might seem truly unforgivable. The book features experiences from those well-known and unknown, including Elizabeth Smart, who learned to forgive her captors; Sue Klebold, whose son, Dylan, was one of the Columbine shooters, learning empathy and how to forgive herself; Chris Williams, who forgave the drunken teenager who killed his wife and child; and of course Schwarzenegger Pratt's own challenges and path to forgiveness in her own life. All provide different journeys to forgiveness and the process--sometimes slow and thorny, sometimes almost instantaneous--by which they learned to forgive and let go. The Gift of Forgiveness is a perfect blend of personal insights, powerful quotations, and hard-won wisdom for those seeking a way to live with greater acceptance, grace, and peace. A PAMELA DORMAN BOOKS/VIKING LIFE TITLE
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Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt speaks with twenty-two people to talk about the power of forgiveness in their lives. All of the people to whom she speaks have suffered extreme violence, pain, devastation, all at the hands of others. How does each person react to the violence, to the devastation? How has each person used forgiveness as a tool to deal with suffering?
No story is the same, and each person's use of forgiveness is different. The forgiveness given to the perpetrators comes in a multitude of forms and shapes, but it is always complex and nuanced.
One of the stories Pratt tells is a story from Rwanda. She tells about the genocide that took place there between the majority group and a minority group. The majority group attempted to kill all of the minority group. Later, another group came into power and the killings halted. There were too many people involved in the killings to send everyone to jail. Instead, a plan was created where the survivors could confront the perpetrators and talk in small local meetings all over the country. The perpetrators were asked to seek forgiveness from the survivors and the survivors were asked to forgive the perpetrators. In large part, the plan was felt to work well across the country.
This book is a fascinating look at forgiveness and its power. I have taken away from this book a new way to think about how to deal with those who hurt us, a powerful tool of healing. While it is not simple, it can be effective.
