Almost five years ago, Charles Carl Roberts IV entered an Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pa., and shot 10 girls – mortally wounding five – before killing himself. This quiet, rural community in Lancaster County suddenly became a place of unprecedented contrasts: violence amid peaceful people, hordes of satellite trucks in a place that favors simplicity.<\/p>\n
Most striking, in a world of deep division and blame-offering, was the nearly immediate forgiveness the Amish community expressed to the Roberts family. This was not forgiveness offered in a prepared statement, delivered by lawyers or news crews, but forgiveness offered in person, from one human being to another.<\/p>\n
What the Amish consider to be “standard Christian forgiveness” can teach all of us, in our own personal and political conflicts, that forgiveness is a way of life learned and lived in community.<\/p>\n