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A Just Forgiveness: Responsible Healing Without Excusing Injustice

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Worthington is a leader in forgiveness research. In this book he addresses the difference between what many people conceive as forgiveness (letting those who cause harm get off scott free) and what he terms just forgiveness which includes addressing the wound, some reparation (could be as simple as acknowledgement and apology or could be bigger depending on offense). It seems that many people today equate forgiveness with amnesia/forgetting and Worthington goes to some lengths to illustrate that forgiveness in no way requires amnesia.

Worthington's credibility lies in his profession as a psychology professor who teaches about forgiveness, and out of his lived experience: his mother was murdered and he forgave her killer. In spite of being an academic, his writing style which includes real vignettes is easy to read and comprehend as well as interesting. The book is definitely worth the read, especially for those of us who tend to hold onto our hurts which hurts us more than the one we hold a grudge against. Real Forgiveness is liberating; it is a form of letting go of anger and resentment.