Reaching Your Destination

"Can true forgiveness ever be attained?" In many of the stories you read on this site, the "victims" have transcended or transformed their "victim" status. They are no longer in thrall to anger, vengefulness, or bitterness. Yet this does not mean that the process of forgiveness is over for them.

All the experience and wisdom of the people interviewed for the documentary Journey Toward Forgiveness, for Howard Zehr's book Transcendence, and for the other articles mentioned in Stories from Other Journeys tells us that forgiveness is a long process that takes hard work, time, and a wealth of spiritual resources. The articles written by psychologists, therapists, and theologians define what forgiveness is and is not, differentiate the stages of forgiveness, and relate forgiveness to matters of the spirit. Such careful mapping and defining is needed for us to see forgiveness in its deepest and richest sense, and for us to realize that there are no shortcuts.

We expect that you will have experienced varying degrees of comfort with the articles that discuss forgiveness in an explicitly Christian context. If that reference point does not work for you then use the more psychologically oriented articles as your guideposts. The same holds true for the links and resources on the site.

Many people find the path to forgiveness to be part of a spiritual journey. If you would like to explore forgiveness in a Christian context, we would recommend contacting a local church. (Developers of this site are from the Mennonite tradition. To check if there is a Mennonite church in your area, go to thirdway.com).

Wherever you draw your sustenance, trust that the journey is worth taking, even though the destination may seem to recede before your eyes. Write down your pledges, frustrations, hopes, dreams, and victories on our Postcards page or in your own journal, and know that others walk along the road with you.