Forgiveness

Forgiveness
Fabric and Thread
31″ x 26″

“Forgiveness” was inspired by a scene in the movie, The Railway Man, a story about a British officer, Erik Lomax, who was captured by the Japanese and tortured as a prisoner of war. Years later and suffering what we now call PTSD, he goes back to Japan to find his captor. The Japanese officer is ironically operating a war museum in the very prison where Lomax was held. When he realizes that his nemesis is only a small, troubled little man, just as tormented by his actions in the war, he finds forgiveness, instead of rage and hate. Near the end of the movie there is a scene where Lomax embraces the Japanese officer, who begins to weep, forgiven. It was a very thick and tender moment for me also. There is a lot of symbolism here as I tried to see inside myself, what it means to forgive and be forgiven, how powerful it is.

I was troubled for a long time by this story, wondering how many times have I been “unskillful” and hurt people, how many people could forgive me for my actions, how there are times when I cannot even forgive myself. I think about all the people who have hurt me that I have not been able to forgive. But I also find a lot of hope in this story. I am comforted that, difficult though it seems, even I might find “Forgiveness.”

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