A community-led service on Forgiveness.
The word forgive comes from the Old English word forgiven, which has the meaning to give completely. The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word forgive as to excuse for a fault or offense to pardon and to renounce anger or resentment against. It means to pass over an offense and to free the offender from the consequences of it. To forgive is to grant pardon without harboring resentment. Pardoning without harboring any resentment conveys the sense of giving complete. True forgiveness cannot be forced. It is a process that must unfold authentically. Perhaps we resist forgiveness because of what we think it entails. Rejecting what forgiveness is not frees it of popular stereotypes. Forgiveness does not mean condoning by failing to see or judge the action as wrong. It is not excusing the action by somehow not holding the person responsible for what he or she has done. Forgiveness need not result in reconciliation. Forgiving does not require forgetting, unlike the word amnesty.