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Forgiving the Man Who Killed Her Mother

Banning, CA, Record Gazette A California woman is offering forgiveness to the man who shot and killed her mother 22 years ago when he was high on crack cocaine.

Becky Johnson, who was 16 at the time of her mother’s death, responded to the tragedy by turning to the streets: she joined a gang; she started dealing and doing drugs; she would rob people for money to get more drugs. She admittedly had no regard for people, or for human life.

“I was trying to find peace in alcohol, in drugs, in gangs. I didn’t find it,” Johnson says. What she did eventually find, however, was a charismatic pastor, Dolores Nesbit. Pastor Nesbit helped Johnson find compassion, and encouraged her to forgive those who have wronged her–particularly the man who killed her mother.

“Over the years, I’ve done so many things out of hate,” Johnson says. “Now, I myself need to be forgiven. And the first step is to forgive the man that killed my mother. I’m tired of living this monstrous story. I’ve learned so much through my church: how to forgive; if you don’t do that, then, the Book of Mark says, you’ll block your own blessings.”

Over the past few years, Johnson turned her life around. She married. She’s now a licensed massage therapist, and she’s training for the ministry, planning to take her story of forgiveness and share her message with people around the world. As far as the man who killed her mother, Johnson says he will likely be released from prison within the year and she intends to be there to greet him with open arms.

Becky Johnson’s mother, Clara, was remembered as a woman who loved everyone and who had no known enemies. Who would want to kill her? When Becky discovered four days after her mother’s murder that both her mother and the killer were high on crack cocaine the night Clara was killed, she had a complete breakdown. After years on the street and succumbing to drugs herself, Becky straightened out her life and credits her ability to forgive for the turnaround.

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Man Forgives Assailant Who Killed His Wife and Daughter

ABC News – Forgiveness was the message Thursday from a Las Vegas father and boxing coach who was nearly bludgeoned to death in a home invasion hammer attack that left his wife and their daughter dead in their home almost three months ago.

“I forgive this murderer because of my faith in God and in Jesus Christ,” Arturo Martinez said. “Because I have to forgive him doesn’t take my pain away. Because I have to forgive him doesn’t mean that he will not be held accountable to God and the American judicial system. . . including the death penalty, if that is how he is sentenced.”

Martinez’s statement came 88 days after he was knocked unconscious for more than 12 hours following the home invasion in which Martinez’s wife and 10-year-old daughter were sexually assaulted and killed early April 15.

Police later arrested Bryan Devonte Clay Jr., 22, a stranger to the family. He has pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping and other charges and awaits trial next June. He could receive the death penalty if convicted.

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A Forgiving Tree

New York Daily News. Hip-hop artist and art curator Derrick Harden helped to plant a tree in Brooklyn, New York, where his sister was killed by her boyfriend. The incident happened 20 years ago. Last January he accidentally came across the man responsible for his sister’s death. The tree, a symbol of forgiveness, was planted in January and last week Derrick went back with his family members to place a plaque on the tree. “I believe in forgiveness,” he said.

Changing things for the better is why Derrick Harden earlier this year joined the “Buds” committee of the New York Restoration Project, to plant an Upright Hornbeam tree in front of the McCleods Community Garden in the Howard projects in his sister’s honor.

“I just believe that being positive you can do anything,” Harden said. “I don’t believe in mistakes, I believe in forgiveness. I believe people grow, and these beliefs probably bring good things to me.”

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The Call for Forgiveness in Nigeria, a National Pain Reliever

Nigerian Tribune. Saturday, June 23 2012. Peter Salawu, a college student at Federal Polytechnic Bida, Niger State, called on the people of Nigeria today to consider forgiving one another as a way to quell bomb blasts and other acts of aggression in his country.

“Let us remove thoughts of revenge from our hearts and begin to love unconditionally; it heals our relationship and lives. Think of forgiveness, not so much as an act, but as a lifestyle. Try to forgive and forget, let by-gone be by-gone. Enough is enough of bomb blasts and terrorism in our beloved country, Nigeria.”

According to Federal Polytechnic Bida student Peter Salawu, “To ensure a better Nigeria, let us learn how to forgive and bury the hatchet and let the sleeping dog lie, because nothing good comes out of revenge, rather it complicates issues by making people kill their fellow brothers without having a rethink.

“I used to think that by withholding forgiveness from my offenders they would suffer. I later realized that I was the one suffering when I finally understood the power of forgiveness, it was truly enlightening. I discovered that I have a lot more freedom, felt happier and focused.”

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Rodney King Forgives Officers Who Beat Him

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM – Rodney King, who became a symbol for civil rights and police brutality in 1991, was found dead at the bottom of a swimming pool in Rialto, California on Sunday.

King was 25 years old and on parole from a robbery conviction when he was stopped by police for speeding on March 3, 1991. According to the Detroit Free Press, four Los Angeles police officers hit him more than 50 times with batons, kicked him and shot him with stun guns.

King suffered a broken eye socket, numerous skull fractures, and facial nerve damage in the beating. Meanwhile, a man videotaped most of the incident and gave a copy to a TV station.

Before his death, King said he had forgiven the officers involved in his beating.

“Yes, I’ve forgiven them, because I’ve been forgiven many times,” he said last year, 20 years after the beating. “I have to be able to forgive — for the future, for the younger generation coming behind me, so… they can understand it and if a situation like that happened again, they could deal with it a lot easier.”

After the Rodney King beating, a three-month trial took place in predominantly white Simi Valley, and three of the officers were acquitted of all charges. There were no black members on the jury. A year later, two of the officers were found guilty of civil rights charges.

As a result of the 1991 verdict, Los Angeles faced a series of fiery riots over three days that killed 55 people and injured more than 2,000. During the third day of riots, King said: “People, I just want to say, can we all get along? Can we get along?”

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