News
Eric Lomax, “The Railway Man,” Dies at Age 93
The Vancouver Sun – A prisoner of the Japanese during World War II, forced to build the infamous Burma to Siam railway, Eric Lomax, age 93, passed away on October 8. Mr. Lomax went on a quest to find and forgive his interrogator, sparking interest from around the world.
Eric Lomax, a former British prisoner of war whose moving tale of wartime torture and forgiveness is being turned into a film, died Monday in Berwick-upon-Tweed in northern England, his publisher, Vintage Books, reported. Lomax was 93.
Lomax was a British army officer when he was captured by Japanese forces as they overran Singapore in 1942. Lomax endured horrific conditions and savage beatings as he and thousands of others were put to work building the infamous Burma to Siam railway.
Lomax endured years of suppressed rage at the torture he suffered at the hands of his Japanese captors, but when he tracked his interrogator down, it set the stage for a dramatic act of forgiveness that formed the heart of his celebrated 1995 memoir, The Railway Man.
His book, The Railway Man, published in 1995, has been an inspiration for those wanting to forgive offenders for severe offenses. It is currently being turned into a movie staring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman.
Read the full story “Ex-POW’s Tale of Forgiveness Touched Millions.”
After 60-Year Sentence, Murderer Asks Forgiveness from Victim’s Son
Sacramento Bee (California) – While being led away to serve a 60-year sentence for murder, the convicted man, Sergio Gomez, turned to the murdered man’s son and asked him for forgiveness. The son, Alejandro Davila, embraced Mr. Gomez and wished him the best, adding, “someday I’ll be able to forgive him.”
It looks from here that Mr. Davila already is well along the path of forgiveness.
Read the full story: “South Texas man asks victim’s son for forgiveness”
Forgiving the Person Who Murdered His Only Son
The Huffington Post – Investment banker Azim Khamisa’s only son, Tariq, was shot and killed in 1995 by a 14-year-old gang member while Tariq was at work delivering a pizza in La Jolla, CA. Khamisa became so distraught that at one point he was suicidal.
But then, after much soul-searching, Khamisa did something most people would consider impossible. He reached out to the family of the young shooter by offering forgiveness and compassion.
“Forgiveness is not well understood in our culture,” Khamisa says. “But I have a better life because I forgived. I came to realize that resentment is very corrosive. If you’re out there carrying resentment, you’re not going to be living at 100 percent of your capacity.”
Read the full story: “Could You Forgive Someone Who Murdered Your Only Son?”
Pope Benedict XVI Calls for Middle East Peace Through Forgiveness
Manila Bulletin, Beirut, Lebanon – Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday that mankind should reject vengeance and instead pardon the offenses of others, as he urged the Middle East’s Christians and Muslims to forge a harmonious society through forgiveness.
Those who desire to live in peace must have a change of heart, and that involves “rejecting revenge, acknowledging one’s faults, accepting apologies without demanding them and, not least, forgiveness,” he said.
Pope Benedict XVI, on a three-day visit to Lebanon, met with and spoke to the country’s political and religious leaders as well as the diplomatic corps. His address focused on the universal yearning of humanity for peace and how that can only come about through community, comprised of individual persons, whose aspirations and rights to a fulfilling life must be respected.
Lebanon is a multi-faith country in which Muslims make up about 65 percent of the population and Christians the balance. The pope came to bring a message of peace and reconciliation to it and to the wider Middle East, which have been torn by violence, often sectarian, over the years.
“Only forgiveness, given and received, can lay lasting foundations for reconciliation and universal peace,” he added in an address on the second day of his three-day visit to Lebanon.
Read the full story: Pope: Reject Vengeance, Forgive Offenses.
Thirteen Days Before Her First Birthday, Girl Killed, Parents Forgive
The Kansas City Star – 11-month old Autumn Nicole Humphrey, while being held by her grandfather, was struck by the out-of-control car of an 88-year-old driver and she was killed. As the Rev. Tiger Pennington prepared to conduct her funeral, he heard something that restored his strength–and moved him to tears.
Autumn Humphrey’s parents asked to meet with the 88-year-old man who was driving the car.
Then they forgave him, Pennington told reporters Saturday outside the First Baptist Church of North Kansas City, and they asked him to sit with the family during the service.
Read more about this extraordinary act of forgiveness: Forgiveness flows at girl’s funeral after church accident.
