A couple of weeks ago I attended a 4-day introductory course in Solution Focused Practice (SFP), otherwise known as BRIEF therapy. The practice doesn’t analyse by delving into a person’s historical hurts (what Caroline Myss might call “woundology”) but rather excavates nuggets of resourcefulness, identifying moments of resilience at times of difficulty. The theory is… more
Let’s leave ‘evil’ out of the Anders Breivik case
Whatever the verdict eventually delivered in Oslo District Court, Anders Breivik is likely to remain, like most people who perpetrate extreme acts of human cruelty, convinced that he is on the side of good rather than evil. The interpretation of evil has not been under deliberation in the Norwegian courts, only the question of his… more
Making Sense of Evil
This week sees the publication of an outstanding and beautifully crafted redemptive memoir by Marian Partington, whose sister was murdered by two of Britain’s most notorious serial killers – Frederick and Rosemary West. Since founding The Forgiveness Project some eight years ago I am frequently sent novels, poems, memoirs, first-person accounts, critiques and sermons on… more
Thich Nhat Hanh: Compassion the Key to Forgiveness
On the 29th March, Buddhist Zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh, will arrive in London for the start of his short UK tour guiding followers in spiritual reflection and peaceful protest. I’ve been interested in Thich Nhat Hanh for a number of years, not just for his peace activism but also because his poem Call Me… more
Finding the Gift in the Wound
Last week I had the privilege to hear an exceptionally powerful talk by Azim Khamisa — a father who lost his only son to gang violence 17 years ago and who I first met in America seven years ago. It is a terrible irony that Azim left Kenya trying to escape the violence of Idi… more
Healing Agony – outstanding new book on forgiveness
There is something mysterious and deeply rewarding about reading a book which perfectly and beautifully sums up an internal dialogue that you’ve been having with yourself for years. As founder and director of The Forgiveness Project, I’ve been exposed to many theories and analyses on the meaning of forgiveness, but nothing has been presented to… more
No Forgiveness Without Justice?
Justice, like forgiveness, is a loaded word, bandied about by just about everyone – used as much by advocates for penal reform as by those who call for the death penalty. The Forgiveness Project’s 2011 annual lecture therefore was bound to cause robust discussion when Clare Short (Secretary of State for International Development in Tony… more
Nothing is Easier than to Condemn the Evil Doer, Nothing is Harder than to Understand him
How is it possible to feel the humanity of a person who has systematically and brutally maimed or murdered innocent people for the sake of an ideology? In 2005 I met Andrew Rice whose brother was killed in the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. Andrew said something which has resonated with me… more
Google Starts Dialogue with Former Violent Extremists
For three days at the end of June, Google Ideas did something risky, brave and potentially world-shaking. They brought together former extremists from all over the globe — from the neo-Nazi youths of Milwaukee to the radical Islamists of Tower Hamlets — and, in a spirit of inquiry, asked the big question: How do you… more
Can Forgiveness “Overcome” Cancer?
I have been troubled lately by the title of a new book called, The Forgiveness Project: The Startling Discovery of How to Overcome Cancer, Find Health, and Achieve Peace, by Rev. Dr Michael S. Barry. It’s not simply that the book borrows the same name of The Forgiveness Project I founded in 2004 — thus… more