A Little Book of Forgiveness: Challenges and Meditations for Anyone with Something to Forgive [Hardcover]

D. Patrick Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2004 | ISBN-10: 0965680975 | ISBN-13: 978-0965680974

In this highly praised work, D. Patrick Miller reveals forgiveness as "a radical way of life that openly contradicts the most common and popular beliefs of this troubled world." In four concise sections -- Seven Steps of Forgiving, Forgiving Others, Forgiving Yourself, and Where Forgiveness Leads -- this poetic book of "challenges and meditations" provides the keys to a healing change of mind and heart.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A gentle, simple book that enables the ideal of forgiveness to act upon our minds with revolutionary force." -- JACOB NEEDLEMAN, author of A Little Book on Love and Time and the Soul

"It helped me go to a deeper level on my own path of forgiveness. It's a wonderful book!" -- LOUISE HAY, author of You Can Heal Your Life

"We all need what this book offers." -- DR. BERNIE SIEGEL

"What beautiful work -- clearheaded, generous, and profound in its lush simplicity." -- WALLY LAMB, novelist, author of She's Come Undone and I Know This Much is True --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

It might seem a lot easier to forgive someone if only he or she would show signs of changing. The paradox is that we are unlikely to see signs of change in others until we have forgiven them. This is true for two reasons: First, resentment is blinding. It limits our perception of what is real (or changing) in the present, and shuts down our capacity to envision a happier future. Second, a subtle but crucial function of forgiveness is that it tacitly gives others permission to change...

When you are trying to decide whether someone deserves your forgiveness, you are asking the wrong question. Ask instead whether you deserve to be someone who consistently forgives.

"Sweet revenge" is junk food for the soul. The brief rush that revenge provides will always be followed by the degradation of one's character. There is a real joy to be found in setting things right, but that always involves changing oneself for the better first.

Forgiving your flaws and failures does not mean looking away from them or lying about them. Look at them as a string of pitiful or menacing hitchhikers whom you can't afford not to pick up on your journey to a changed life. Each one of them has a piece of the map you need hidden in its shabby clothing...

Forgiveness is a long night walk by the ocean at ebb tide, with the surf only murmuring.

Forgiveness replaces the need to anticipate fearfully with the capacity to accept gracefully and improvise brilliantly. It does not argue with fate, but recognizes the opportunities latent within it. If necessity is the mother of invention, forgiveness is the midwife of genius.

Forgiveness is not mere sympathy, nor condescension, nor forced generosity. It is the ultimate declaration of equality, founded on the recognition that all crimes are the same crime, every failing the human failing, and every insult a cry for help.

Forgiveness is the science of the heart: a discipline of discovering all the ways of being that will extend your love to the world, and discarding all the ways that do not. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 92 pages
• Publisher: Fearless Books (September 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965680975
• ISBN-13: 978-0965680974
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Before founding Fearless Books in 1997 to continue the publication of his writing, D. PATRICK MILLER sold three solo projects to major publishers: Viking, Henry Holt, and Dell. He is now the author of nine titles, including his current books THE WAY OF FORGIVENESS (Fearless) and LIVING WITH MIRACLES: A Common Sense Guide to A Course in Miracles (Tarcher/Penguin). As a collaborator, ghostwriter, or principal editor, Miller has helped other authors prepare manuscripts for such publishers as Viking, Doubleday, Warner, Crown, Simon & Schuster, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Hay House, Hampton Roads, and John Wiley & Sons. His poetry has been published in a number of magazines and several anthologies. He is co-editor, with Sari Friedman, of the award-winning Fearless Poetry Series. A top-ranked volunteer expert on publishing at AllExperts.com, Miller provides professional consultations to literary agents and publishers as well as published and unpublished authors working in fiction and nonfiction. He has worked for many years with the Linda Chester Literary Agency of New York, which recommends the Fearless Literary critique service. He is a member of the Authors Guild and serves as president of the Northern California chapter of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forgiveness is the key to happiness., January 23, 2002

By 

Stephen M. Theriault (Plantsville, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Little book of Forgiveness (Paperback)

We all need to forgive others for having hurt us, whether intentionally or unintentionally. But to do that we must also learn to forgive ourselves for the wrongs we have committed against God and our neighbor. Miller writes succinctly about the selfishness of not forgiving yourself and releasing yourself to do good in the world. It is arrogance to hold a grievance against yourself or others. Drawing from 'A Course in Miracles', Miller expands on the them that every thought is either a loving response or a cry for help. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone needs forgiveness. God gives us the gift of forgiveness and we should likewise extend this (seemingly undeserved) favor to everyone including our own selves. This is one of the books I give in my Christian counseling practice. I give it my highest recommendation. Everyone should read this 'little' book.

Also recommended: Choosing Happiness (Veronica Ray), The Road Less Traveled (M. Scott Peck), A Course in Miracles (anonymous), The Practical Guide to Real Christianity (S. Theriault)

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone has someone to forgive. Read this book!, February 21, 2002

By 

Julia Ann Ferguson "love immigrant" (S. California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Little book of Forgiveness (Paperback)

I have the original edition published in 1994 and was checking Amazon to see if it was still [around]. Boy am I thrilled to see it has been updated ... As a alcohol and drug abuse counselor in the past and now an Expat coach and work/life balance coach...I find this is one of the books that I consistently refer my clients to read. Everyone I have shared it with has found healing, growth and positive insight.

The concepts are simple, direct, and understandable. It helps you see areas in yourself and others that you may not even have realized you were harboring resentments or needed to forgive.

Read it...but also grasp it...practice it your life and you will find more joy.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book offers both exposure to this concept and methods., December 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Little book of Forgiveness (Paperback)

Forgiveness is a concept I never grasped. I always simply dismissed it as a religious process available to a particular denomination. I remained burdened due to this limited view. When I was given this book,THE LITTLE BOOK OF FORGIVENESS, many things happened. A clarity of thought came first, an acceptable course of action next, and release at last