Yesterday was one of those days that makes it all worth it.
We were on a brief break between “A Message from Jessie” and “Forgiving the Unforgivable.” Forty guys, inmates, signed up for both, so they could do “The Forgiveness Class”, coming next month.
On the break, I walk over to say hi to John (fake name, real guy). John was in the class last year.
Me: “Hello John.” His face lights up, like he didn’t expect to be remembered.
John: “Hi.” He is shy, quiet, low self-image, almost sweet.
Me: “How are things?”
John: “Well, do you remember my story?”
Me: “Yes, your dad.”
John’s dad physically and sexually abused him all through his growing up years. He looks down to the floor when I mention his dad, like he always did in class last year, but then his eyes come right up to meet mine, and a small smile comes over his face.
John: “I was finally able to forgive him.”
That’s it, that’s all he says, John is shy, a man of few words, he doesn’t say much. But I know. I know those seven words covered a forty-year journey of pain and struggle and incarceration. And I see a peace in his face now that wasn’t there when we started class last year. I see pride, he’s standing up a little taller and easier, he looks younger, like there was a heavy weight, and now it’s gone.
John: “Thank you.”
May not sound like a lot to someone who wasn’t there, but I’d make that hour and half weekly drive all summer for one John. Except we collected data last year, and there were many Johns. I get to do it again this summer, and so does our new team of Facilitators. Excited for the guys, excited for the transformations, grateful for Forgiveness.
About 90% of our incarcerated people were the victims of violence before they became offenders. Our prison program exists so that they have a roadmap and tools to actually heal the long held pain and anger that sometimes drives behavior, and replace it with peace, through the Forgiveness Process.
ENDing Interpersonal Violence. Promoting Forgiveness. Presencing Love. One person at a time.
