The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World - Softcover

TUTU, DESMOND M.; Tutu, Rev Mpho

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007572603 ISBN 13: 9780007572601

Publisher: Harper Collins Paperbacks, 2015

Synopsis

The Book of Forgiving, written together by the Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and his daughter Revd Mpho Tutu, offers a deeply personal testament and guide to the process of forgiveness.

All of us have at times needed both to forgive and be forgiven – whether small, everyday harms or real traumas. But the path to forgiveness is not easy, and the process unclear. How do we let go of resentment when we have been harmed, at times irreparably? How do we forgive and still pursue justice? How do we heal our hearts, and move on? How do we forgive ourselves for the harm we have caused others?

Drawing on his memories of reconciliation in post-apartheid South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu has identified four concrete steps to forgiveness through which we must all pass if we are to reach our destination:

1) Admitting the wrong and acknowledging the harm
2) Telling one’s story and witnessing the anguish
3) Asking for forgiveness and granting forgiveness
4) Renewing or releasing the relationship

Each chapter contains reflections and personal stories, as well as exercises for practising each step of the path. The Book of Forgiving is a touchstone and tool for anyone seeking the freedom of forgiveness: an inspiring guide to healing ourselves and creating a more united world.

About this title

Review:

‘A very 21st century approach to forgiveness.’

- Christianity Magazine

‘Mpho and Desmond Tutu have walked the way of forgiveness over a long period of time, and now they have shared their story with us in their practical and inspiring book.’

- Canon Stephen Hance, Southwark Cathedral

‘This is a wonderful book filled with practical advice.’

- Yoga Magazine

‘This is at one level a handbook, useful to all, indispensable to anyone who desperately needs to forgive or be forgiven.’

- The Very Reverend Dr John Arnold

‘A ... self-help manual... that seeks to prod [us] towards a practical understanding that forgiveness heals whereas revenge tears people and societies apart.’

- The Sunday Times

From the Back Cover:

How do I forgive?

Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has witnessed some of the worst crimes people can inflict on others. So wherever he goes, he inevitably gets asked this question. This book is his answer. Writing with his daughter, Mpho, an Anglican priest, they lay out the simple but profound truths about the significance of forgiveness, how it works, why everyone needs to know how to grant it and receive it, and why granting forgiveness is the greatest gift we can give to ourselves when we have been wronged.

They explain the four-step process of forgiveness--Telling the Story, Naming the Hurt, Granting Forgiveness, and Renewing or Releasing the Relationship--as well as offer meditations, exercises, and prayers to guide the reader along the way.

"With each act of forgiveness, whether small or great, we move toward wholeness," they write. "Forgiveness is how we bring peace to ourselves and our world."

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Collins Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0007572603
• ISBN 13: 9780007572601
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240