They say an accident happens by chance, with no planning or deliberate intent. And people who knew my sisters would have said just that. It was an accident. But I would like to tell them there are no accidents.There are only opportunities.
Kingdom of Simplicity, the story about an Amish boy who loses his family in a car accident, explores the simple power of forgiveness.
In 1994, author Holly Payne saw her life plans put on hold after she was struck by a drunk driver and left unable to walk for almost a year. A few months after the accident, the man who inflicted the hardship on Holly wrote her a letter asking for her forgiveness. Not ready to confront him, Holly put the letter away. She finally decided to respond to him with this book about forgiveness, which she recently sent to him along with a letter of her own.
Holly says that she wishes she would have gotten back to the driver earlier to free him from the burden of guilt he felt and free herself from her feelings of resentment.
Have you had the opportunity to forgive someone for something significant?
Monsoon
this is touching, however i tend to hold a grudge
1then again, i've never had something this huge happen to me
Yes, I've forgiven my abusers. Forgiveness is huge. It's an incredibly strong tool in the healing process. Forgiveness is not for the person who committed the wrongdoing, it's for the victim. So that he or she can move on with his/her life without regret or bitterness. Forgiveness allows the victim to regain power and control of his/her life. It allows the victim to be able to love and trust again, to live her life with courage and strength. It allows the victim to become an active participant in her life - not a victim anymore.
2I think it takes a strong person to forgive and move on. But that is part of the basis of the Christian faith. It's a huge part of the bible if you've ever paid attention. So there must be an extremely important reason to find forgiveness and move on if you ever need to.
3I read the book, and I think it's great. The thing is, the book is NOT really about forgiving the driver. Eli, the protagonist in the book, has other, different things to forgive.
Please read the book and see what I mean. I sometimes wish the reviews and interviews with Holly didn't focus so much on her accident, etc, and more on the book. At a lecture, she said she began writing the book, and had written quite a lot of it, before she realized the parallels with her own life.
So read it, and see which of the many threads in the tale most resemble your own experiences.
Oliver
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