The essay "Forgiveness," written by June Callwood, explores the concept of forgiving and how it influences people's lives for the better. Her work describes many components of forgiveness, such as how difficult it can be to come to terms with, why it is such a crucial part of humanity, and how it affects all people. Her essay aims to prove that forgiveness is the key to living peacefully and explains specific examples of people who have encountered extremely difficult situations in their lives- all of whom found it within themselves to forgive. To clearly portray this message in her writing, Callwood uses several strategies. She includes fear inducing statistics, makes many references to famous events and leaders, and uses a serious convincing tone, all of which are very effective.
Callwood uses terms with negative connotations to create an uneasy feeling or even fear in readers and inspire them to consider forgiveness. The idea the "heart attacks occur more often" (164) in people who hold more anger leads readers to believe that being unforgiving can potentially be physically dangerous. An increase in anger, which Callwood explains is the "polar opposite of forgiveness," (162) is stated as a contributing factor to worldwide ethnic and religious conflicts, as well as those of a
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smaller scale such as "domestic brutality [and] road rage" (162). These statistics establish Callwood’s knowledge and research to demonstrate to her audience that she is trustworthy. After using negative ideas to persuade her audience, Callwood changes her strategy and includes more emotional appeal.
She explains that people who have found it within themselves to forgive often receive a feeling of relief from their internal struggle. Callwood references many people who have forgiven "great injustices,"(165) such as a woman whose seven year old daughter was tortured and killed and Nelson Mandela. Other famous figures referenced by Callwood such as the Dalai Lama and Bishop Desmond Tutu also have been said to agree that people "should [be] forgiving for [their] own sake,"(163).These people are quoted in Callwood's work to provide structure and evidence to her
thesis. Throughout the essay, the serious, mature tone is consistent and Callwood's voice is clearly present. Sophisticated vocabulary such as "secular," (163) "pervasive,"(163), and "contemptible," (164) reflect the formal tone of the passage. This carefully chosen tone makes the piece easy to understand and helps portray Callwood’s message. June Callwood presents a clear and concise essay which includes all of the necessary factors to make it successful. The essay makes readers realize what is really important in life and how holding grudge can affect people in the long term. By using extreme examples such as unjust deaths and brutality, Callwood creates a contrast between those situations and what happens in average person's life to show that everything can be forgiven. The serious tone of the essay is fitting, and aids Callwood in proving her point that forgiveness can be difficult, frustrating, and emotional but ultimately it is the best way to live peacefully.
Simon Wiesenthal’s book The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness spoke to me about the question of forgiveness and repentance. Simon Wiesenthal was a Holocaust prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. He experienced many brutal and uneasy experiences that no human being should experience in their lifetime and bear to live with it. Death, suffering, and despair were common to Simon Wiesenthal that he questioned his own religious faith because he asks why would his God allow the Holocaust happen to his people to be slaughter and not do anything to save them. During Simon Wiesenthal time as a Jewish Holocaust, Simon was invited to a military hospital where a dying Nazi SS officer wanted to have a conversation. The Nazi SS officer told Simon his story of his life and confesses to Simon of his horrific war crimes. Ultimately, the SS officer wanted forgiveness for what he done to Simon’s Jewish people. Simon Wiesenthal could not respond to his request, because he did not know what to do with a war criminal that participate in mass genocide to Simon’s people. Simon Wiesenthal lives throughout his life on asking the same crucial question, “What would I have done?” (Wiesenthal 98). If the readers would be on the exact situation as Simon was
Forgiveness is crucial for a clear conscience and peace of mind for the both of them. However, all of this is arguable by the fact that today’s experiences are incomparable to those of Hitler’s times. One cannot begin to place one in each other’s shoes and know exactly how to respond to the events happening. One can only guess how they would respond, but until they are in that moment, all plausible reasoning can change. Nevertheless, forgiveness continues to be an aspect of everyday life in every century.
“The Dalai Lama” in The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness. New York:
As humans, we are entitled to making mistakes in our lives, but by forgiving one free himself from anger. Marianne Williamson wrote this about forgiveness: “ Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.” In the book The Glass Castle undergoes many difficult circumstances in which the act of forgiveness is the only way to be at peace with her family, but more importantly herself. But the real question is does she truly forgive them. Jeanette’s ability to constantly forgive her parents enabled her to have a positive attitude because the negativity was released when
As famed poet Maya Angelou once said, "It's one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive" (Angelou). Forgiveness is the decision to release any anger or blame towards a person or thing and let go, seemingly an easy task, but many people find it impossibly hard to do. In the aftermath of the devastating genocide in Rwanda, the most powerful step towards healing the nation was the forgiveness fostered by survivors. It was this strong belief that began to spread through Rwanda and brought people peace and acceptance. In Left to Tell by Immaculée Ilibagiza, Immaculée discovers forgiveness in her life, and begins to let go of the horrifying deeds that the Hutus committed against the Tutsis in order to move on and grow as a person, helping both herself and the killers move on.
Sometimes it is better to forgive than it is to forget. Forgiving a person may not always be easy, but it can strengthen a friendship instead of holding a grudge. In The Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini, there are times when you are going to have someone be faithful to you, lie to you, and hurt you. Through it all you still have to be humble and forgive that person, because at the end God still forgives you if you ask him to.
The slope begins with “escape responses” that include denying there is a conflict, escaping from the conflict through avoidance, and self-destruction and loss of hope (Sande, 2004). At the peak of the slope, there are “peacemaking responses”, intentionally placed at the top as they reflect the higher ground we are on when we approach conflict based on what we know to be Biblical truth (Sande, 2004). This includes, but is not limited to, disregarding the action, finding harmony with the offender through forgiveness, and taking responsibility for one's actions, even if it requires involving others (Sande, 2004). Lastly, at the bottom of the slope, there are “attack responses” which can be devastating to relationships (Sande, 2004). These are comprised of verbal and physical attacks on another, resolving issues by utilizing the legal system, and ultimately by taking another person’s life (Sande, 2004).
It is a means of self-liberation and self-empowerment” (About forgiveness – Candles). This is a quote from Eva Kor. Forgiving those perpetrators involved in the Holocaust is a highly debated topic. However, Kor saw it as a necessity for herself to be liberated from the pain. Kor stated that, “I forgave the Nazis not because they deserved it but because I deserved it” (Forgiving the Nazis). Another quote from Kor explains the complex nature of forgiveness, “The day I forgave the Nazis, privately I forgave my parents whom I hated all my life for not having saved me from Auschwitz. Children expect their parents to protect them; mine couldn’t. And then I forgave myself for hating my parents” (Forgiving the Nazis). The public display of forgiveness allowed Kor to remove hate and negativity that accumulated throughout her life. This will allow people to be liberated in a healthy and meaningful way, like Kor was. There are physical health benefits of forgiving. After granting forgiveness people have lower blood pressure, sleep better, need fewer medications, and overall, feel better physically (John Hopkins). The physical and emotional health benefits that forgiveness offers can change a survivor’s life for the
Regardless of which religion one may follow or study, fundamental beliefs and values are present in many ways, regardless of how they are interpreted and practised within each religion. Forgiveness is omnipresent in religion, as it is a crucial teaching of bringing peace and acceptance into one’s life, thus having a vital presence throughout many religions. Without forgiveness, it would be impossible to fully accept oneself and others and look past their mistakes and differences, which is why it is such an integral part of so many religions. Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism all exemplify the theme of forgiveness through various practices and beliefs within each religion. The Buddhist belief of the end of suffering reflects
In the book “Cry, The Beloved Country,” there is a crucial moment when a father who has lost his son says, “There is no anger in me.” (Paton 214). James Jarvis is the man who says this right after learning who killed his son. Jarvis has lost everything that was important to him and he chose to forgive. In this book, forgiveness is the first step towards happiness. Later in the book, Stephen Kumalo the father of the boy who killed James’ son, forgives his own son Absalom. Once, this occurs Stephen and Absalom begin to restore a broken relationship within the limited amount of days they have left. This book really taught me that we have a choice to be angry with the world and those around us when something goes wrong, or we can accept it for what it is, forgive and take the first step towards
Who does Forgiveness help Forgiveness is mostly for an individual’s sake rather than for the person that is being forgiven (Ross, 2014). The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved from http://nclive.org/cgi-bin/nclsm?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1709495452?accountid=8259 Raj, P., Elizabeth, C. S., & Padmakumari, P. (2016).
Some people believe that forgiveness has nothing to do with religion that forgiving is strictly a choice. You can choose to have a religion that might help you through hard times but that you can also simply choice to forgive without religion. Reon Shuttes, prisoner of war in Zimbabwe for 13 years, feels that forgiveness, tolerance, and acceptance of circumstances are the keys to our ultimate freedom. All of these are choices we, as individuals, have to make (Poolman 1). “The key… is choice, a powerful tool to which every human has access to at every moment… regardless of the situation”(Poolman 1). Choosing forgiveness can benefit a human personally and actually help brighten their future also (The Benefits 2). Schutte is now giving inspirational speeches all over the world (Poolman 2). In the movie Annie, directed by John Huston, the orphan mother, Miss. Hannigan, has a lot of built up hatred and anger. She chooses to never let go of the negativity, meaning she never has and never will fully forgive anyone. People have to make the choice on their own.
Forgiveness is one of the hardest processes to go through regarding an individual’s social, personal, and mental health. The step of forgiveness requires us to look past the wrongs that have been done to us, and without any sort of retribution or atonement of sorts, drop that wrong-doing out of the scope of the relationship and move on. Christianity and psychology have differing, yet surprisingly similar ways of looking at the role of forgiving one another. The agreement is obvious, psychologists and Christians alike recognize that forgiveness has great value in preserving relationships, not just personal but communal as well. The disagreement tends to be a difference of opinion in what context forgiveness is appropriate.
Forgiveness is the process of acceptance of tension, existing in the extended relationship between families, communities, ethnics or nations. This tension is beyond the tension of those who directly involved in. Thus, forgiveness is a matter to be considered in many relationships, including between individual and individual, individual and community, group and group, group and country, and so on. Forgiveness should be also considered in a certain context that they belong to. For example, in The Parable of the Prodigal Son, I believe, there are four aspects of forgiveness created in several relationships surrounding this parable, including the father and the younger son’s aspect basically. First aspect we should consider, needless to say, the forgiveness of father for his younger son returned home back after wasting his inheritance. Second aspect we should not miss that the elder son’s resentment and tension between father and him. The elder son seems not agree with father’s forgiveness and celebration. Moreover, he seems not be able to forgive his younger brother. Third, the position of the prodigal son forgiven by his father, we should consider definitely. In many cases, there is tendency to emboss more a person who forgives than a person forgiven. Finally, this parable implies the communal forgiveness related to the position of the younger son, surrounding people, and the all the villagers as
Many people forgive others even in heartbreaking or terrible situations. However, some people do not understand the concept of forgiveness and how it works. The well-known saying "forgive and forget" is a complicated process because it involves feelings, differing opinions, and decision-making. In his book, Baliga stated that the significance of restorative justice lies in "community-based processes that hold people who harm directly accountable to the people they've harmed" (Kumar, 73). While this statement is technically true, community-based processes do not always consider forgiveness.