Forgiving the Unforgivable: Seventy Times Seven

All of us have been injured or abused in our lives. In the Christian ideal, we are taught to turn the other cheek. But it is hard to forgive a transgression. Far easier is it to wallow in our victimhood, to feel sorry for ourselves. Since this tends to be the case for even small hurts, what would we do were we to incur something terrible, even unthinkable Could we live up to our Lord's instruction, to forgive as many as 70 times seven?

Jennifer Hubbard experienced just such a horror on December 14, 2012 when her six-year-old daughter, Catherine Violet, was killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting. In the hundreds of talks she has given since, one question is invariably asked: "Have you forgiven the shooter" Instinctively, she answers, "Yes." In this heartfelt memoir, she explains why.

This is not a self-help manual, for, as Jennifer explains, "forgiveness isn't a transaction; it's a transformation." Further, "It's about choosing to live free, even when the world would tell us we have every right to cling to the pain." Clinging to the pain and resenting whoever has harmed us is our natural inclination. But Jennifer explains that when we remain in this state we fail to, "make room for the healing He longs to give us."

Jennifer beckons the reader in her introduction, "Come sit with me awhile. I can assure you that this journey may begin in a place of brokenness, but ends in a sunrise of peace."