This is a powerful book. I appreciate the honesty in the book and their willingness to say that forgiveness is hard. This book takes time, and while when they read it quickly, you can't do the work quickly. ( )

Someone gave me this book at a time when I really needed to forgive another person. I wasn't ready to read it at the time, but I find that now -- six years later -- I value the insights and advice the book has to offer. Written by Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter, Mpho, the book has plenty of narrative but also journaling exercises and rituals that can be helpful in "letting go" of injuries and ruptures in relationship caused by others -- or ourselves.

Audience: Those who struggle with forgiveness will benefit from reading this book and performing the exercises it proposes. Fans of the writing and life's work of Desmond Tutu will receive deeper insight into the thinking and practices of this great spiritual exemplar. ( )

This is a book written by the Archbishop of Capetown, and tells more of the story of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, plus the story of Mpho (Desmonds daughter) whose housekeeper was killed in a gruesome murder. I did persuade our church to read this book on the Wednesdays after Easter (2019). A fourfold path is laid out for asking forgiveness:
1. Telling the Story.(the physical story)
2. Naming the Hurt.(the emotional aspect)
3. Granting Forgiveness (the hard part of clearing the burden
4. Renewing or Releasing the Relationship (determining the future).
This book also talks about needing forgiveness (where you did the deed) and another chapter finding the ability to forgive yourself. ( )

Desmond Tutu describes a path of forgiveness that includes:
1. telling the story
2. naming the hurt
3. granting forgiveness
4. renewing or releasing the relationship

In Tutu's typical manner, the book is simple and easy, yet does not make it's subject either simple or easy. The book makes forgiveness attainable and worth consideration without dependence upon a particular religious belief system, though Christianity as his own faith is personally revealed. It can be used in-depth within a process of forgiveness, or read quickly and still found meaningful.

I have quoted the following prayer from the Introduction:

Prayer Before the Prayer

I want to be willing to forgive
But I dare not ask for the will to forgive
In case you give it to me
And I am not yet ready
I am not yet ready for my heart to soften
I am not yet ready to be vulnerable again
Not yet ready to see that there is humanity in my tormentor's eyes
Or that the one who hurt me may also have cried
I am not yet ready for the journey
I am not yet interested in the path
I am at the prayer before the prayer of forgiveness
Grant me the will to want to forgive
Grant it to me not yet but soon

Can I even form the words
Forgive me?
Dare I even look?
Do I dare to see the hurt I have caused?
I can glimpse all the shattered pieces of that fragile thing
That soul trying to rise on the broken wings of hope
But only out of the corner of my eye
I am afraid of it
And if I am afraid to see
How can I not be afraid to say
Forgive me?

Is there a place where we can meet?
You and me
The place in the middle
The no man's land
Where we straddle the lines
Where you are right
and I am right too
And both of us are wrong and wronged
Can we meet there?
And look for the place where the path begins
The path that ends when we forgive ( )

From back cover: "The quality of human life on the planet is nothing more than the sum total of our daily interactions. Forgiveness is the way we mend tears in the social fabric. It is the way we stop our human community from unraveling. This book is an invitation for you to walk with us on the path of forgiveness."