inspiration
FOrGIvENEss
A Good Deed that Heals
by susie ruth
L
ittle Earl and his parents were having a terrible time.
Diagnosed as hyperactive and defiant at school and at
home, the 7-year-old couldn’t seem to control his anger. One
International Forgiveness day: August 2
tumultuous week, it got so bad he was hospitalized for the
weekend.
Global Forgiveness day: August 27,
Six months later, Earl was much happier; he had found a
Learn more at ForgivenessDay.org.
new way to deal with his feelings and was off the Ritalin and
Prozac he’d been given for hyperactivity. His parents’ rela-
tionship with each other also had improved. He began to do tute in 1994 to share research on the power of forgiveness.
better in school. This summer, he’s in Belfast, Northern Ireland, assessing the
The whole family had found a “third way” to deal with cumulative effects of his ongoing curriculum there introduc-
their anger. Rather than denying or venting it, they had ing school children to the idea of forgiveness. “We simply
learned how to forgive. It’s an answer being explored more lay the foundation that there’s such a thing as forgiveness,”
widely today. “Why is forgiveness so powerful a force?” asks he notes. His U.S. pilot city is Milwaukee, which CityRating.
Harry Aponte, in the Journal of Family Therapy. “Because it is com reports has property crime rates exceeding the national
a direct product of love.” average and a murder rate higher than Belfast’s.
Forgiveness, the antidote to taking offense, isn’t easy; “I think forgiveness absolutely has to be learned,” advis-
self-sacrifice is involved. But it carries a lighter price tag es Enright. He emphasizes that forgiveness is not weakness; it
than nursing a feud or holding a grudge. Not forgiving gives is not forgetting, excusing, condoning or reconciling oneself
another person power over us. Forgiveness sets us free of to a wrong done. Neither does it preclude justice.
imprisoning bitterness, anger, revenge and resentment and “Our work in forgiveness education is based on the con-
allows us to find a new way to think of the “wrongdoer.” viction that forgiveness can reduce anger,” Enright explains,
Robert Enright, an education psychologist at the Uni- “and that a decrease in anger leads to less depression and
versity of Wisconsin-Madison, and known as the father of anxiety and to stronger academic achievement and more
forgiveness research, has observed that those who practice peaceful social behavior.”
forgiveness usually maintain their emotional health. For
people who are able to let go of the hurt, he says, “Much Robert Enright’s books include the seminal Forgiveness is
of the giving comes back to us in a form a spiritual person a Choice and his book for children, Rising Above the Storm
might call peace… in a diminishment of anxiety and depres- Clouds: What It’s Like to Forgive.
sion and an increase of hope and self-esteem.”
Enright established the International Forgiveness Insti- Primary source: The Christian Science Monitor
Buddhist Meditation Classes
Thursdays in Fort Lauderdale
7:30-9:00pm at Drolma Center, 140 W Prospect Rd
Sundays in Fort Lauderdale
10-11:30am at Drolma Center, 140 W Prospect Rd
Mondays in Davie
7:00-8:15pm at Alvin Sherman Library, NOVA
Tuesdays in Tamarac & Fort Lauderdale
7:00-8:15pm at Golden Years Wellness Center
7:00-8:15pm at Drolma Center, 140 W Prospect Rd
A service of Drolma Kadampa Buddhist Center
954-537-9191 www.MeditationinFlorida.org
42 Broward County
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