Forgiveness and reconciliation are central themes in Christian communities in the past and today. Unfortunately, too often, our understanding is limited and we do not know how to bring these practices into our communities to foster growth and healing. In the Anglican Communion, for example, we are struggling with rifts caused by issues of human sexuality. On a more local level, many individuals struggle with fractures in their personal relationships. A practices approach to forgiveness and reconciliation remains as the best avenue to healing in relationships that range from global to personal.
This two-month sabbatical will allow me to explore these themes of forgiveness and reconciliation with an eye of how to bring my understanding of it to bear within our Christian context. Time in a monastic community will help me to create a structured faith practice, while a trip to Institute for the Healing of Memories, a community focused on understanding forgiveness, will provide practical tools to bring back to my community. Study of written literature will round out the time and provide further articulation of these themes.