Archbishop Desmond Tutu will be the first to tell you that forgiveness is not for sissies.As the chairman of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he spearheaded the landmark effort to heal a country torn asunder by apartheid. A time and space were created to introduce perpetrator to victim - thieves to those they vandalized, torturers to those they injured, kidnappers to the kin of those they abducted, killers to the families of the slain - so that witness could be borne and quest...

A truly restorative book filled with fantastic spiritual exercises and examples. This is not an entertaining read, it is work. Not the prose, but the subject matter. Yet, if you read it through you can't help but feel better and see the world differently.

I must express my gratitude to Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu for writing this book. It has opened my eyes, my heart, my mind to truly understanding forgiveness. It has inspired me to embrace this work and has bolstered my courage to move forward. At first I found it a bit difficult, as it uncovered some deep-seeded pain and trauma. But I am grateful to now have the warm, loving framework this book provides to walk the path of forgiveness. I appreciate the book's holistic thoroughness - understandin...

This book could also be called, “how to process pain and grief in a healthy way.” It walks through a particular process/model for moving forward from painful experiences in what felt to me like a very well- balanced, thoughtful, and practical way. It doesn’t really hold any surprises - facing the harm that we have experienced or have caused, feeling our feelings, and accepting how we and our lives have been changed is how we move forward and no longer allow ourselves to be defined/continually vi...

Both beautiful and very practical. A book I think could benefit and inspire just about anyone and everyone.

The news of Desmond Tutu passing about 2 weeks ago triggered me to take up this book. I did have some high level insignt into apartheid from reading about Nelson Mandela and also about South African Republic in general but I had not come across any of his own writings. This book makes you rethink your first world problems and assures that there is still hope left for humankind (lots of warm words about generally very depressing situations).“Forgiveness does not relieve someone of responsibility

The idea and text of the book I actually liked (3 stars) but that the mentioning of "God" and "Religion" is way to much for me. Before I bought the book I checked the blurb and nothing indicated that this book will be a filled with religion. Obviously I should not trust a blurb for the content if it is written by priests.The ideas behind the book and text I really liked.It has as well rituals, meditation practices and diary exercises which I all found rather annoying even though I practice medit...

Until I read this book, the idea of forgiveness was rather vague and obscure--something that as a Christian I knew I was "supposed" to do, but I really had no idea how to go about it. How did I know if I had truly forgiven? I always had the impression that I had forgiven when I was no longer angry. But how could I stop being angry? Well I guess I needed to do a better job at forgiving because if I was still having flashes of anger, clearly I had not "completely" forgiven.Needless to say, the top...

Wow...this was so complicated and simple at the same time. Forgive to me was just a word, bandied around... all over the show, by bunches of well meaning do gooders, but now after Desmond Tutu its just so much more. A collection of stories from so many who displayed the utmost in forgiveness in unforgivable situations, it's these powerful displays of forgiveness, that has moved me, enriched me, taught me, calmed me & to forgive is what we should all do, and now is a good time to start.

Important read. I started this book in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks. I seek a world of forgiveness and peace. I believe no one is beyond the reach of forgiveness."Forgiveness is nothing less than the way we heal the world.""There is also no end to the human capacity for healing. In each of us, there is an innate ability to create joy out of suffering, to find hope in the most hopeless of situations, and to heal any relationship in need of healing.""Forgiveness is simply about und...

This was a beautiful, poetic book about forgiveness. And it was a practical book about the process of forgiveness--how we need to name the story, acknowledge the hurt, grant forgiveness and decide to renew or release the relationship. But it's not a spiritual book, which surprised me a bit. He does reference his Christian faith a few times, but it's mostly universal insights and gripping stories that lead to psychological techniques and personal reflection exercises.Given the current crisis of t...

Spiritually inspired and nothing groundbreaking but I appreciated the continuity in how Mr Tutu explains this path. As he states, this is a process that all humans are reconciling on a daily basis and there’s no end to this deluge until our hearts beat no more. The examples and anecdotes illustrate his points well and his tone is firm yet grants the reader space. I primarily picked up this book to help me better understand how to forgive myself. I’m at an age where I can admit that having a proc...

When I first started reading this I confess it was a hard read. So much pain at levels I have never experienced. It made me feel small and fragile to even think of whining about my own troubles when these people really know what it is to experience trauma. Then I learned through the way Mpho and Desmond Tutu explained it that the un-forgivable in my own life was holding me back from being the person I know I can be. I look at these things differently and slowly have become lighter, and feel more...

***UPDATE 3/6/17***. Finished my fifth read. Continues to resonate with me in a multitude of ways. Oprah described this as a "doctorate level education" in the concept of Forgiveness. With a capital F.This book made me weep. Read it if you need to learn how to forgive, what forgiveness is, what it is not, and why it is absolutely mandatory if you want to live a life of love and connection.

The best book on forgiveness that I have ever read. It took me four months to read it. It is one you have to digest slowly and purposefully. <3 I love that I started it in the fall when everything was dying and am finishing it as the hope of spring is right outside my door.

Puts things in perspective.

It was a struggle for me to finish Desmond and Mpho Tutu's book on forgiving. I was immediately wary of the Christian message which galvanizes me due to having spent 1/2 of my life devoted to Christianity. I was in denial about the power-driven harmful ministers in my ultra conservative tradition. At the end of the book, I realized I had to forgive my experience with Christianity, even though I left it long ago. That aside, they present a psychologically sound path to accommodating tragedies or

Twenty years ago I had an experience that rocked my world in the most tragic way. It destroyed my sense of safety, my hope of a loving family, my ability to start my married life with joy & welcoming, & my ability to see myself truthfully as a good human...I was abused by family. It was so destructive that I couldn't even speak of it fully for about 15 years. I searched for knowledge about what to do & how to forgive. But every path ended without many answers. The truth was that our culture just...

Truly beautiful book. The instruction for forgiveness is really illustrated well with fabulously shared stories.

One of the most important books you'll read in this lifetime. If survivors of apartheid can rebuild a country based on the concept that we're all part of the same human family, that any act can be forgiven, and that every person is capable of transformation, then certainly we can reconsider our own views of who is worthy of forgiveness and who isn't. Including ourselves.It was especially meaningful to read this book while horrific acts of violence are being committed all across the country. Fing...