While I am finishing preparing the menu items for the post-9/11 “big picture” posts (nearly there), I thought I would share this utterly amazing story out of the Middle East with you, on forgiveness and redemption. It takes place in a small roomful of very damaged people.

The context in which they say they are sorry shamed me for hugely lesser offenses that I find difficult to forgive. And kudos must go to the interviewer – she kept probing and got this story out, perhaps despite how she hoped the interview would go.

This is no ordinary extraordinary story for forgiveness, so I think I should say that you need 40 minutes of quiet time – alone or with others – if you want to experience it as a redemptive moment, which starts building momentum about 14-15 minutes into the story. The next 20 minutes are stunning. A holy moment, really. So if you are just going to have the story playing in the background while you’re busy doing other stuff, well, you’re certainly free to do that, and I don’t want to sound tetchy, but why insult to the people in the room?

Maybe more of us should say we are sorry. Here’s the story.

Image by quantumlars (permission via Creative Commons)