Forgiveness: Human or Divine?

….this film focuses on the theme of forgiveness. Can a woman not only
forgive the man who killed her husband, her child, her mother, but
accept him as her friend and neighbor? Can a man forgive himself for
the brutal act he committed when neither the state nor his victim is
asking for payment? Is closure possible here? As We Forgive, which won the 2008 Student Academy Award for best documentary, grapples with these complex issues.

….Additionally, Hinson has launched the Living Bricks Campaign,
a practical reconciliation project to help repentant ex-genocide
prisoners construct much-needed housing for the survivors in their
community. She also began the 4GIVE campaign to encourage audiences to
be a voice of reconciliation in their communities. Viewing “giving” as
a central feature of “forgiveness,” the 4GIVE campaign guides audiences
to discuss the power of the 4 “gives”: (give) truth + (give) mercy +
(give) hope + (give) back (find more information here.

Read the whole blog entry. Among the groups doing work portrayed by Hinson is Prison Fellowship Rwanda (Prison Fellowship International sponsors this website), and the Living Bricks Campaign supports construction of “Reconciliation Villages” by PF Rwanda.

A book by Catherine Claire Larson with the same title as the documentary describes the stories in more detail and adds reflections on the elements of forgiveness.