Devon Dick

Today is another Peace Day. Peace results from forgiveness, hence there is a strong relationship between the two. Where there is no forgiveness there is a lack of peace with persons having hatred and bitterness in their hearts, which leads to anti-social behaviour. The individual will lack peace in his or her life and with others.

Forgiveness can be defined as: having understood the offence and having acknowledged the hurt caused by the offence, one still refrains from hating the offender or taking any unilateral action of revenge against the offender while reserving the option to seek justice through approved channels.

The Bible says no to revenge. Romans 12:17- 19 states, "Do not take revenge" because God states, "It is mine to avenge. I will repay". God prohibits reprisals. This Biblical injunction is counter to popular culture. Most of the films from USA have their heroes taking revenge as a means of maintaining the honour of family, friends or country.

Jamaica is hampered by a cycle of revenge, coupled with a culture that views informers as traitors and evildoers. Revenge is seen as a viable option and contributes to the lack of peace in society.

There are some persons who claim that to tell persons 'no revenge' after their loved ones have been victims of murder is unreasonable and unmanageable.

Yes, it is not easy but th is worse.

Forgiveness

The better way is forgiveness. Forgiveness recognises the hurt inflicted by the offender but the offended does not continue to have hatred, anger and bitterness toward the offender. Even in forgiveness, the offended one can still hate the awful act while pitying the offender. No to revenge and yes to forgiveness could leadto peace in schools and society.

Many persons still misunder-stand forgiveness. Two popular misunderstandings are that: forgiveness means to have no memory of the past; to feel no hurt.

It is popular for persons to say let us forget what has happened and move on meaning that it is not necessary to ascertain what happened or to give account of what happened. This is to perpetuate injustice and a failure to learn from the past. This leads to the victim's suffering being glossed over.

However, forgiveness is not a rejection of the past but rather an unwillingness to allow the past to determine the future after understanding the past. For forgiveness to take place one must truly understand what happened in order to forgive what happened. Jesus Christ forgave his crucifers because he knew what they did even if they did not know what they were doing.

The other mistake is to claim that forgiveness means feeling no hurt.

Forgiveness is not a denial of the hurt. In fact, it is to acknowledge the pain caused by the offence while not despising the offender. Human beings have emotions and the ability to feel pain and hurt when offended. One of the first steps in forgiveness is to admit that we have been hurt.

Forgiveness is an important virtue as we seek peace in our lives and with one another. Forgiveness and peace need to go hand in hand.

Have a peaceful and a forgiving day.