News
Forgiveness Is a Choice: As a Way to Goodness and Happiness
On March 3, Dr. Bob gave a presentation to a group at Blackhawk Church in Madison, Wis.?? The talk focused on forgiveness as a way to goodness and happiness and was framed by the following questions or key points:
How can we set up Forgiving Communities?To order an audio cd of this presentation, please contact Kevin Randall, Clinical Director of “The Center for Christian Counseling, Consultation and Training, Inc.”??at 608.274.8294
How, Why and When to Forgive a Transgression
Dick Goldberg, veteran talk show host, produces “psychology podcasts to help, motivate, and inspire you.” He interviewed Dr. Robert Enright on Tuesday, March 6 on the subject of “How, Why and When to Forgive a Transgression.
Dick Goldberg hosted “For Love or Money” for 8 years on Wisconsin Public Radio and produced and hosted over 150 programs on PBS on the series “Insights” and “Inside Business Today,” which were broadcast on over 200 PBS-TV stations. He is a practicing therapist in Madison, Wisconsin for the past 30 years, as well as the author of 4 books. Dick has a passion for helping shape interviews into clear and useful information for his listeners, and making his guests, not himself, the “star” of the program.
His 30-minute podcast with Dr. Enright is available here.
Mother Forgives Her Daughter’s Attacker
Manawatu Standard, New Zealand. A partner of the Cheryl Thompson’s daughter attacked the daughter with a knife last September. She survived the attack. He was sentenced yesterday to five years and five months in jail. ??At the hearing, Mrs. Thompson said, “I’m not too sure how people feel about forgiveness, but for myself, I know it heals the heart and soothes the soul. I chose today to let [the attacker] know face to face that we forgive him.” The judge described the forgiveness as “remarkable compassion.”
A man who repeatedly stabbed his girlfriend while on a paranoid religious rampage has been forgiven by her family, which a judge described as “remarkable compassion”.
In the High Court at Palmerston North yesterday, Elim Tekotahi Emery, 21, was jailed for five years and five months on two charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
On September 3, at a Feilding house, he stabbed his 18-year-old partner and his uncle with a boning knife.
His girlfriend was rushed to hospital for life-saving surgery and originally Emery faced an attempted murder charge, but this was later downgraded.
Yesterday his partner’s mother, Cheryl Thompson, told the court about her feelings of forgiveness toward Emery.
“I’m sad it had to end this way for two young people who were supposed to start their lives together,” Ms Thompson said.
“I’m not too sure how people feel about forgiveness, but for myself, I know it heals the heart and soothes the soul.
“I chose today to let Elim know face to face that we forgive him …”??Read the full story.
I Forgive My Son’s Killer
NYDailyNews.com. “I forgive my son’s killer,” says Phyllis Ferguson after her son, Demetrius Hewlin, was killed in an Ohio high school. “Until you’ve walked in another person’s shoes, you don’t know what made him come to this point.”
The parents of a teen killed in a shooting at an Ohio high school cafeteria on Monday have forgiven their son’s suspected killer, saying it was “God’s will” that their boy was taken from them in the morning rampage.
Phyllis Ferguson, the mother of Chardon High School shooting victim Demetrius Hewlin, told ABC News that if she had the chance to talk to suspected gunman T.J. Lane, “I would tell him I forgive him because, a lot of times, they don’t know what they’re doing. That’s all I’d say.”
A Healthy and Prosperous Heart: The Power of Forgiveness and Letting Go
Nelson Mandela’s words reveal a powerful truth, “Harboring resentment is like drinking poison, expecting if will kill your enemies.” Ongoing studies show that lack of forgiveness has a negative impact on our bodies, resulting in chronic health problems and diminished quality of life.
Rehashing old hurts, past wrongs, regrets can have a negative and toxic effect on all systems in the body, but particularly the heart. We wear down our cardiovascular system by replaying the toxic tapes and stories from our past, wreaking havoc on ourselves, our bodies, in innumerable ways, increasing our heart rate, blood pressure, while flooding our bodies with stress hormones that linger, creating an unhealthy inner environment of discomfort and disease.
Do yourself a favor. Focus your time and energy on cultivating a practice of forgiveness. Read the full story.
