Forgiveness

In the movie Antwone Fisher, Denzel Washington plays a psychologist who helps an angry young man deal with his past.

The key theme throughout the movie can be summed up wonderfully by something that Denzel Washington says.

"Forgiveness is freeing yourself."

When you have anger or resentment towards someone, who really suffers?

There are many cases in which if you were to confront the person who made you angry, they would not be able to recall the incident that is the root of this resentment.

In 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomb in May 1991, whilst campaigning for an election.

Nalini Sriharan was one of the convicted murderers and was sentenced to life for her part in the assassination.

On March 19, Gandhi's daughter Priyanka visited Sriharan in prison.

Priyanka said the following about the visit: "I don't believe in anger or violence and I refuse to let it overpower me. Meeting Nalini was my way of coming to terms with my father's death,"

In the Merchant of Venice, Portia is described as "A Paragon of Virtues."

Her greatest virtue is her compassion and the way in which she helps convince the Venetian court to be gentle on Shylock in their judgement.

Portia does this through explaining the concept of mercy.

She states that the quality of mercy is never strained and can never be enough.

This is because it is twice blessed.

The German city of Dresden was heavily bombed by the British during the Second World, causing 35,000 deaths. During these bombings, the city's 200 year old cathedral was destroyed.

The cathedral has recently been restored to its glory, with the contribution of a 21 foot golden cross being presented to the city by the British.

This touching act of reconciliation shows how forgiving men and women can be.

It shows that no situation is so bad that two people or two communities cannot find a reconciliation.