Restorative Justice
In 2006 a deranged, armed gunman named Carl Roberts entered a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, and shot ten girls, ranging in age from six to thirteen years old, killing five. Then he turned the gun on himself and killed himself. But what quickly began to steal the headlines was the way the Amish responded. Amish families
... See moreShane Claiborne • The Irresistible Revolution, Updated and Expanded: Living as an Ordinary Radical
When love feels impossible
open.substack.comYet I returned to the central values of Christianity—sacrifice, redemption, forgiveness—because I found them so compelling. There is a tension in the Bible between justice and mercy, between the Old Testament and the New Testament. And the New Testament says you can never be good enough: goodness is the thing, and you can never live up to it. The
... See morePaul Kalanithi • When Breath Becomes Air
Forgiveness appears counterintuitive in today's culture, where the tendency is to cancel rather than forgive, and to harbor resentment instead of offering grace. This prevailing attitude stems from a belief in our own righteous judgment—that we have been wronged, are owed amends, and that those who have wronged us deserve to face consequences.
But,
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