FORGIVENESS Act or Process?

Looking back on my doctoral training after some years of practice in marital and family counseling, it was hard to believe that "forgiveness" had not been addressed--particularly since my training was clinical at the Marriage Council of Philadelphia.)

Listening to hundreds of people, I realized that not only are we all wounded--too often deeply wounded--but that we keep on wounding each other, mostly blindly and innocently--yet still hurtfully. I began to think and write about forgiveness. I realized from my own case, deep family hurts, forgiveness was not merely an act, but an ongoing process that needed to be continued. I began to have some insights about my own process. Forgiveness, therefore, consisted of new awareness and some steps. I finally came up with 14!

Maybe this was one of the reasons, when Peter asked Jesus "How many times, Lord, should we forgive a brother who sins against us, seven times?" he answered "No, Peter, not seven, but seventy times seven." (Matthew 18:22)

Browsing a bit yesterday on the web, it seemed as if my short piece on "Forgiveness: Steps" had become my most frequently quoted article. Under my weblog topic "Healthy Spirituality," I will today update and post these steps. You should be able to click in the sidebar and go there. Your comments are invited.