In a recent post, Daryl Dash points out that forgiveness is a topic that quickly connects with nearly everyone. After going to see the movie, The Big Question: A Film About Forgiveness, he writes:
Whenever I speak on forgiveness, I can tell that it’s an issue for almost everyone out there. You could feel that tension last night. The director said that he tried interviews on the street, asking people what they would like to say about forgiveness. Most of the people essentially said, “You don’t want to ask me about forgiveness.”
The most poignant stories for me were those of the Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania who chose to forgive the gunman who slaughtered their children. They asked the director to mention that this was not easy for them, contrary to what some have said. It was also interesting to hear the story of a man who had just finished writing a book on forgiveness when his mother was killed. Although he had spent years teaching and writing about forgiveness, he felt consumed with a desire for revenge until he caught himself and turned to forgiveness instead.
I haven’t seen the movie yet. So, I’m not sure how they frame “the big question.” I’m curious about that. There are so many big forgiveness questons:
- How is forgiveness defined?
- Should everyone be forgiven?
- What is the relationship between forgiveness and reconciliation?
Of course, you can always start interacting with forgiveness questions by taking the Forgiveness Quiz! Only a couple of weeks or so until I start blogging on the responses.
You can read all of Daryl’s post here. (Daryl links to me – – so, if you keep clicking, you could find yourself in an endless loop between our two blogs).
