I have been in the Forgiveness Business for quite some time now. In my world view, instead of governments encouraging victims of crime to seek retribution, they would provide the resources needed to find reconciliation and wholeness. Perpetrators would not be thrown into cells with little hope of emerging sane or remorseful. And human beings of all shapes, sizes, ages, colors, backgrounds, beliefs and tattoo styles would search for and honor our similarities, before casting dispersions on our differences.
Who said it best? Inigo Montoya, that’s who. The man who spent his life seeking revenge on the man who killed his father. “My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” There in the Princess Bride (one of my favorite movies, and a great book, too) is a profound lesson about forgiveness.
Here is what Mandy Patinkin, the actor who played Inigo, has to say about the revenge business:
