THERE have been some pretty horrendous headlines in the press recently.

How refreshing then to see the headline in last week’s Gazette (May 27, You’re Forgiven).

A teenager who completed a firefighting course apologised to his victim for breaking into her home and she found it in her heart to forgive him. What a heart-warming good news story!

I wonder if you would have found the courage this 76-year-old did in forgiving her burglar? Come to that, would you have found the courage the 14 year-old did in asking for forgiveness?

Forgiveness is never easy. If someone has hurt you badly, it is much easier to hold on to your pain and nurture thoughts of revenge.

If you’ve hurt someone else in something you’ve said or done it is equally hard to “fess up” and ask forgiveness.

Unforgiveness, from that between individuals to that between nations and people, can lead to generations of bad feeling and ultimately break down the fabric of society. We justify it by saying forgiveness “lets people off” and seems to excuse their crime. In the case of real and genuine forgiveness, this is simply not true.

Saying “sorry” and, “I forgive you” doesn’t let anyone off the hook, nor does it mean restitution is unnecessary.

True forgiveness brings release and healing to the giver and the receiver – the harder it is to offer, the deeper its positive effects.

You may often pray ‘forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’. Patricia Buckmaster tried to do this. God bless her and the young man who asked her forgiveness. – JOHN.