Afghan Peace Volunteers
– Artist’s Website –
Pictured here are community members who attend the Borderfree Nonviolence Center in Kabul. Zarghuna, back row, will be presenting Friday, July 21st..
The Global Days of Listening conversations are shifting gears.
Beginning on 30th of Saratan (Persian Calendar, 1396) or
on July 21st (Gregorian Calender, 2017)
the Afghan Peace Volunteer leaders will be
presenting their views about this month’s theme.
This month, four of the Afghan Peace Volunteers will each speak about
Forgiveness and Nonviolence.
Forgiveness is a very old word.
Unlike its sisters pardon, absolve and excuse, forgiveness refers specifically to a change in emotion.
In contrast to the words accepting and embracing, Ghabh-, the Indo-European root of forgiveness, means
to give up or give away anger and the actions associated with it, retribution and revenge.
The roots of the word, as old and deep as language itself,
reflect its centrality to human relations and humans’ life in community.
Without the ability to let go of anger, life would be hell. Take a moment to imagine the state of one’s life
if one could neither forgive nor expect forgiveness for all the hurts, wrongs and disappointments given and received.
One would be caught in perpetual punishment, personal despair, social chaos and war.
The spiritual practice of forgiveness, with its deep roots in all world religions,
points a way out of destructive retribution and offers practical guidelines
for effective reconnection with oneself and others.
from: Drs. Cynthia Sanderson and Marsha Linehan