Conversations about forgiveness make a difference.
Seventy-five percent of those who participated in campaign conversations, reported that they would be more likely to:
Forgive themselves for mistakes
Forgive others who are close to them
Consider offering forgiveness as a response to a difficult situation
Talk with friends about forgiveness or being more forgiving
Choose to forgive someone rather than being angry at them
We invite you to start one of your own!
Getting Started
Whether it’s an impromptu confab over coffee or a formal series of school, community, or book club conversations, we invite you to initiate a conversation on love and/or forgiveness. Here are some suggestions to get started.
Start a series of conversations: Local organizations, discussion groups, or special venues in your community such as conversations cafés, civic groups, support groups, faith groups, or classes may want to collaborate in building conversations on love and forgiveness.
Use the love and forgiveness conversation cards: Each card provides a quote to think about, questions to discuss, and a suggested action for incorporating more love or forgiveness in your life (see below). Pick one. Read it. Share it. Let it sink in. Use it to start a conversation or…start changing your life. The cards can be used as personal inspiration; to spark conversations among family, friends, or colleagues; for book discussion or support groups; and/or to challenge you to be more loving and forgiving. Order a free deck (while supplies last).
Download and use the campaign conversation guides: Conversation guides provide resources to help conversation facilitators lead and guide conversations and a handbook for participants. The Facilitator Guides provide information on the campaign, guidelines for facilitating conversations, thought-provoking essays on love and forgiveness, discussion questions related to campaign films, and suggested activities. The Participant Handbooks include information on the campaign, essays on love and forgiveness, and suggested home practices.
Listen to podcasts featuring leaders in the field of forgiveness education and research:Forgiveness experts, Frederic Luskin, Ph.D., author of Forgive for Good and director of the Stanford Forgiveness Projects and Everett Worthington, Jr., Ph.D., author of Five Steps to Forgiveness: The Art and Science of Forgiving, professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University and a licensed clinical psychologist, share research, experience, and thoughts on the power of forgiveness.
Listen to a podcast featuring two seasoned conversation facilitators: Get tips on leading a conversation from two seasoned conversation facilitators. The podcasts include information on managing group dynamics, rules, creating a safe space for sharing, use of the conversation cards, how young people respond to the conversations, and more.
Listen to an interview with Fred Luskin, PhD, on forgiveness
Listen to an interview with Everett Worthington, PhD, on forgiveness
Listen to interviews with conversation facilitators, Steve Jarose and Jo Washington
Films
Forgiveness:
A Time to Love and a Time to Hate
In the new PBS film Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate, acclaimed writer, producer and director Helen Whitney explores a compelling range of stories, from personal betrayal to global reconciliation after genocide.
Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate provides an intimate look into the spontaneous outpouring of forgiveness: from the Amish families for the 2006 shooting of their children in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania; the struggle of ’60s radicals to cope with the serious consequences of their violent acts of protest; the shattering of a family after the mother abandons them, only to return seeking forgiveness; the legacy and divisiveness of apartheid and the aftermath of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in South Africa; the penitential journey of a modern-day Germany, confronting the horrific acts of the Holocaust; and the riveting stories of survivors of the unimaginably, brutal Rwandan genocide.
Once a uniquely religious word, forgiveness now is changing and there is no consensus about what it is and what it is becoming. However you define forgiveness, its power is real — and never more so when it struggles with the unforgivable. Inevitably, as Whitney reveals, its new role in the world raises serious and complex questions: why is forgiveness in the air today; what does that say about us and the times we live in; what are its power, its limitations and in some instances its dangers; has it been cheapened or deepened … or both.
Divided into two 90-minute acts, the film airs Sundays, April 17 and 24 at 10 p.m. ET on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings).
Best Documentary Award, Third Annual Sun Valley Film Festival
This documentary examines the power of forgiveness in alleviating anger and grief caused by the most dramatic transgressions imaginable and those that are more commonplace. The film features families of victims from the tragedy of 9/11 and forgiveness education in Northern Ireland, where unforgiveness has been a way of life for generations. Produced by Journey Films, The Power of Forgiveness received numerous awards, including the Best Documentary Award at the Sun Valley Film Festival, the Religion Communicators Council Wilbur Award, and The Christophers' Christopher Award. The film aired on public television stations in March 2008.
Gold Camera Award-Winner, U.S. International Film & Video Festival
Hosted by actor, playwright, and author Anna Deavere Smith, this documentary explores love in marriage, family, community, science, forgiveness, the search for the divine, friendship, and even war. Produced by Independent Production Fund with major funding provided by Fetzer Institute, The Mystery of Love aired on PBS in December 2006.
Watch Film Clips
Buy DVD
Buy Companion Book 
Go to Film Site
Download Teaching Guide