People really can forgive even if they can’t forget, as a documentary film making the rounds of some Roanoke area faith communities proves. “The Power of Forgiveness” features eight people or groups who have experienced God’s power and human-will bringing about serenity after what might be seen as unforgivable events
According to Kate Zawacki, who with her husband John is active in the Catholic parish, the interfaith group Voices of Faith is an initiative of the Diocese of Richmond and was established to increase mutual understanding among different religious groups while still permitting individuals their private beliefs.
Though Msgr. Joe Lehman, pastor of Nazareth, said the Voices group is mostly Catholic it is intended as ecumenical and interfaith, meaning Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and other folk who take God seriously are more than welcome to join in the occasional gatherings.
“The Power of Forgiveness” is indeed a powerful film suitable for religious education in many group settings. The showing at OLN in early November was followed by a panel discussion the next week at Hollins University, as representatives of five major world faiths attempted to define how their group views forgiveness. The Rev. Kirk Ballin, a Unitarian, served as moderator of the event. About 50 people from throughout the valley heard first from Carol Gerhardt and her husband Jay Landman, Buddhists from the Bodi Path group in Rockbridge County. They discussed how the faith that predominates parts of the Far East views how life can continue despite outrages.
Dr. J.S. Desai, a psychiatrist and a Hindu, pointed out that the word “Namaste” (“the divinity in me greets the divinity in you”) is a bridge to understanding. He told of a Hindu festival known as Holi in which a bonfire symbolically burns away all unneeded emotions like anger and jealousy. Once purified in the annual event, a person is free to take up life again fresh and energetic. The doctor said that he believes the principles of his faith and his medical knowledge are compatible.
Marci Brumberg, representing Judaism, noted that in her faith the day of Yom Kippur each fall is spent in fasting and prayer for cleansing of one’s sins. Though Hebrew law demands that forgiveness be practiced, it may involve both a sin against God’s laws or an offense to another person. If the latter, forgiveness must be sought in person.
For the Rev. Deborah Hentz Hunley, rector of Christ Episcopal Church, Jesus’ stories of the Prodigal Son and the Ungrateful Servant sum up the Christian position that calls for repeated forgiveness. Her branch of the faith provides for a reconciliation service in which the person seeking forgiveness in turn asks it of the confessor, for all are seen as sinners.
An African-American religious leader, Imam Ibrahim Hamidullah, noted that the Prophet Mohammad taught that, “We must get rubbish out of the way on our way to the mosque.” Mohammad was known for his compassion, the Imam said. Observant Muslims pray to be freed of their sins several times daily.
The Rev. Dr. James Forbes, retired from The Riverside Church in New York and a speaker at Hollins in the past, introduced the film “The Power of Forgiveness.” He concurs with a prayer Zawacki (a retired Roanoke County schoolteacher) gave at the showing: “Revenge and hate do not lead to peace.”
Efforts in Ireland to overcome centuries-old resentments between Protestants and Catholics are revealed through teaching children –who wear symbolic glasses to see with new eyes — not to harbor hatred. Though permanent peace there is fragile, it is being sought at the grass roots level.
The well-known example of Amish forgiveness following the murder of five schoolgirls in 2006 also is explored by the author of the book “Amish Grace.”
Elie Wiesel, who as a Jewish teen survived the Holocaust and has spent his long life trying to find God in it, describes how he brought together current German leaders with those in Israel for symbolic forgiveness.
Two university professors, Everett Worthington and Kathleen Lawler-Row, are teaching young adults through their own examples how important it is to try to forgive. Worthington lost his elderly mother to an intruder. He says his years of teaching about forgiveness helped him accept the horror of her death. Lawler-Row recounts how studies of the body reveal that even the memory of a terrible event causes a rise in blood pressure. Holding resentment leads to serious illness, which she demonstrates in a lab.
The film continues with the story of three women, each affected by the loss of their man in the 9/11 tragedy, and with how reconciliation is being accomplished by some Christians and Muslims in Lebanon. Finally, the film concludes with a remarkable story of a California Muslim father who lost his student son to murder by a black teen.
Both grieving fathers not only became friends but now use their reconciliation to teach San Diego school children how to forgive.
(If you are interested in viewing “The Power of Forgivenes,” Our Lady of Nazareth Catholic Church (Rt. 419) owns a copy and will lend it.)
By Frances Stebbins [email protected]