Resources on Forgiveness
In our 2010 Fetzer Survey on Love and Forgiveness, 62 percent of Americans agreed (strongly or somewhat) that they need more forgiveness in their personal lives, and this number increased to 83 percent in their communities, 90 percent in America, and 90 percent in the world.
As unique and fallible human beings, endowed with our own needs, preferences, personalities, and foibles, it’s inevitable we will make mistakes, hurt others, and be hurt ourselves. Forgiveness can be a powerful self-administered salve for the daily frustrations, hurts, and even injustices we experience. We share this list of resources, both our own and our partners’, to help us consider and explore the topic and practice of forgiveness.
Interactive Practice
Letting Go Practice
Is there a hurt or thought you keep replaying that you’d like to release? Use this interactive Letting Go Practice to help let go of a hurt, injury, or issue in your life.
Guide
Conversations About Forgiveness: Participant Guide
This handbook supports four conversations about forgiveness. Three essays serve as background for the conversations, helping to explain why and how to practice forgiveness.
Video Series
Consider Forgiveness Series
Consider Forgiveness features interviews with leaders and scholars from the Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, and Christian traditions.
Video
Being with the Energy of Forgiveness
Listening to the wisdom of former enemies (individuals, communities, and representatives of nations in conflict) who have found the courage to engage in face-to-face restorative dialogue with the person or parties that harmed them offers many profound lessons. Dr. Mark Umbreit, PhD, founding director of the Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking at the University of Minnesota, explains his work in restorative justice in this documentary.
On Being with Krista Tippett
Michael McCullough: Getting Revenge and Forgiveness
Michael McCullough describes science that helps us comprehend how revenge came to have a purpose in human life. At the same time, he stresses, science is also revealing that human beings are more instinctively equipped for forgiveness than we’ve perhaps given ourselves credit for.
