[Mb-hair] Peace & Forgiveness

[Michael Butler]

Good!
Thanks
Michael

> If we are to have Peace read this it is a start....whew!  and talk about
> forgiveness. This is regarding a bombing the IRA did 20 years ago in
> England.
> peace,
> barbara
>> A decision to forgive
>> By TERRY MATTINGLY
>> October 6, 2004
> 
> Twenty years ago, the Irish Republican Army bombed the Grand Hotel in
> Brighton, England, in an attempt to kill Prime Minister Margaret
> Thatcher and her Cabinet during a Tory party conference.
> 
> Jo Berry, Harvey Thomas and Patrick Magee will mark the Oct. 12
> anniversary with a reflective evening at the historic St. James' Church
> near Piccadilly Circus in London. Their goal is to talk about the
> lessons they have learned from one of the most shocking terrorist acts
> in the bloody history of the Irish and the English.
> 
> Berry is the daughter of Sir Anthony Berry, one of five people who died.
> 
> Thomas was Thatcher's press secretary and barely survived.
> 
> Magee was the IRA terrorist who planted the 100-pound bomb behind a
> panel in the bathroom of Room 629.
> 
> "The fact that the three of us will stand side by side as friends is a
> story in and of itself. It shows that true reconciliation is possible,"
> said Thomas. "Reconciliation isn't easy. But how do we move forward if
> we cannot forgive our enemies?"
> 
> The 65-year-old Thomas is a broadcaster who is as well-known for a
> 15-year stint with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as for his
> years as Thatcher's media specialist. Thus, he works in two different
> worlds. Thomas is as comfortable dissecting Bible passages with other
> Christians as he is fine-tuning public-relation campaigns for politicos
> and executives in Saudi Arabia and other tense locales. His passport has
> been stamped in 120 nations.
> 
> Reconciliation in the post-Sept. 11 world, he said, must involve secular
> people as well as religious believers. It means convincing hostile
> armies of true believers to treat each other with respect, if not
> tolerance. What is the alternative?
> 
> "What happens if nothing is done is almost certainly global warfare,"
> said Thomas. "We have to ask ourselves: What are we willing to do to try
> to head that off?"
> 
> Berry has asked the same question.
> 
> Two days after the bombing, she fled to the St. James sanctuary and sent
> up a non-believer's prayer to find some way to seek peace and deal with
> her own grief. This pain led her to seek a meeting with Magee when he
> was released from prison after 14 years, as part of the Good Friday
> peace agreements in Northern Ireland. They met privately and then agreed
> to have further talks about forgiveness, this time filmed by BBC
> cameras.
> 
> The public forum with Thomas is the next stage in this bridge-building
> process. Berry hopes it draws everyone from political activists to
> therapists, secular diplomats to believers from many different
> sanctuaries.
> 
> "I dream of a world in which we have choices to resolve conflict other
> than violence," she said via e-mail. "Talking with Patrick Magee is a
> way of learning from the past, which may give insight for creating a
> different future. I am learning about the effects of blame and looking
> at how we make choices not to blame."
> 
> Thomas was made a similar pilgrimage.
> 
> For millions of people in Great Britain and around the world, one of the
> most unforgettable moments after the bombing was watching - live on
> television - as rescue workers pulled the 6-foot-4, 280-pound Thomas out
> of tons of concrete rubble. His own memories of those moments center on
> hours of frantic prayers for his family.
> 
> Now Thomas has new memories. His dialogue with Magee began with letters
> while the bomber was in prison. A few years later, Magee ended up
> sitting in the Thomas family kitchen, sharing baked beans, stories and
> regrets.
> 
> They talked about decades of oppression, the bitter choices of civil war
> and the dehumanizing effects of violence.
> 
> One of Thomas' daughters asked Magee: "You do realize that if you had
> succeeded in killing Daddy, I wouldn't be here?"
> 
> Magee wept and so did Thomas and his family.
> 
> Reconciliation is a process, said Thomas, but it begins with a decision
> to forgive. This is a personal choice and it's impossible for one person
> to tell another when or how to take this step. Seeking personal
> reconciliation is not the same as seeking justice.
> 
> "I have no doubt that I needed to forgive Patrick Magee," he said. "It's
> what God wanted me to do. So I did it."
> 
> (Terry Mattingly (www.tmatt.net) teaches at Palm Beach Atlantic
> University and is senior fellow for journalism at the Council for
> Christian Colleges & Universities.)
> 
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