Forgiveness is God’s power to remove barriers to well-being, to lift burdens that can crush us, to loosen whatever binds us tight, to set God’s people free for new life.  It is the expression and experience of God’s radical grace.  Forgiveness is not just something God does, it is the deep expression of who God is, in every part of our lives.

This realization shakes the very foundations of the world we live in, unleashing a creative power for life-giving change that can be greatest when situations seem most hopeless, and transforming not only our experience of God but also our experiences of others and of ourselves.  Forgiveness, in all its forms, breaks cycles of violence and recognizes the image of God in all people.  It opens futures that have been closed, tends wounds that we have continued to carry from our past, and engages us with dynamic possibility in the present.

Entering “the laboratory of forgiveness” is to enter deeply into the territory of God’s abundant grace.  We will risk immersing ourselves in dynamic gospel stories that will claim us and call forth our deepest expressions of confession, gratitude, generosity, and hope. We will endeavor to explore what forgiveness can truly be, while making applications in our own lives, relationships, and community.  We will learn the steps to forgiving someone else, and even more, be challenged to allow ourselves to be forgiven.

The setting of the workshop will allow us to establish “forgiving space” and practice disciplines of deep listening and acknowledgment, even as we build community.