Forgiveness

My job presented a speaker, Azim Khamisa who has spoken all over the world on teaching how to achieve inner peace through forgiveness of others. He was so inspirational and his story so moving. From his biography:

"Following the murder of his only son Tariq in 1995 through a senseless, gang-related incident, Azim chose the path of forgiveness and compassion rather than revenge, and this amazing choice led to the establishment of the Tariq Khamisa Foundation (TKF) and his subsequent forgiveness work which has reached millions through international speaking, (in 1996 – a crowd of 300,000), public and corporate workshops, video and audio recordings and four published books, including the award-winning From Murder to Forgiveness and the Random House book The Secrets of the Bulletproof Spirit, coauthored with Jillian Quinn."

Azim met the family of the murderer.  He started the foundation with the grandfather of the murderer and has created an empire of love and forgiveness with a message of how it could be prevented.  Azim realized that two families has suffered, both were at either ends of the gun...1 is now in prison while the other no longer with us.  He decided to forgive the gang member and continues to write and visit him in prison.  Tony is his name and it has been 16 year since Tariq's death.  Tony is now a changed man; Azim wants him to work at his foundation when he is released.

A wave of awe and wonderment swept over the students and staff as they listened to Azim pour his heart out.  A student asked, "How did you forgive him?"  Azim replied that decided to do it for himself; he did not want to live in anger; it is not healthy.  His strength came from God the Almighty.

What a great message! I almost lost myself in a ocean of tears as I too was surprised to hear his story. Then I thought, why hold onto grudges, anger and misfortunes? Although he had lost Tariq, he found forgiveness in his heart and now speaks on behalf of his only son to millions of people each year. Violence and revenge creates darkness in our hearts. Our souls become black and spiritless. After the revenge is carried through, then what? More people hurt, wanting revenge, and the cycle never stops.  His message is to prevent violence through the forgiveness.  I bet some people do not know they have the capacity to forgive.

Search inside your soul; listen to your heart telling you to forgive someone today.

Peace be with you,
Angela <3 <3