When tragedy happens by the hands of another human being, is difficult not to become bitter at the culprit or even at humanity itself. However, a deep wisdom tells us that forgiveness is the correct answer to such horrid situations. Nevertheless, that does not make forgiveness any easier and it is for this reason that these 25 unbelievable acts of forgiveness are so astounding (especially in the light of the atrocious horrors some of these people faced).
20. Anthony Colón

kwgn.com Losing someone you love is a devastating blow, especially when they are brutally murdered. Anthony Colón knows this all too well. On June 13, 1992, Antony’s brother; Wilfredo Colón, was gunned down by three men; an event that left Anthony bitter and angry. “I hated everybody. I hated everything. It made me to be a person, like a monster,” said Colón in an interview with CNN. Nevertheless, as the years went on, Anthony married, found religion, and forgave the killers. One in particular; Michael Rowe, ended up becoming good friends with Anthony.
15. Jo Berry

www.theguardian.com A member of the British parliament, the father of Jo Berry was killed by an IRA bomb in 1994. After his death, Jo felt that blaming and becoming bitter would not do her any good so she asked for an appointment with Patrick Magee, the perpetrator of the crime. After an intense three hour conversation, Jo and Patrick agreed to continue meeting and eventually became friends. Jo came to realize that if she had lived Patrick’s life, she might have done what he did. Patrick came to realize how many innocent victims were created by his violence. Both of them were profoundly changed.
10. Nettie Gibson

www.realsimple.com On August 10, 2011, Nettie Gibson was driving to work when a 63 year old, drunk driver changed her life. Swerving into incoming traffic, the drunk driver hit Nettie head on, leaving her with a broken right arm; spleen, appendix, and two-thirds of her colon and upper intestine that had to be removed; and a shattered right heel. To make matters worse, the driver had minimal auto insurance leaving Nettie to pay for most of her medical expenses. This sent Nettie into a state of depression that lasted for months. However, in august of 2012, as Nettie sat in a courtroom facing the culprit (who was only sentenced to 8 to 16 months in jail but only served 3 months due to a heart condition), Nettie approached the public defender and said, “Please let [your client] know that I forgive her.”
5. Mary Johnson and Oshea Israel

thesmoochproject.blogspot.com February 1993 is a date that Mary Johnson will probably never forget. A dispute between her 20-year-old son, Laramiun Byrd and 16-year-old Oshea Israel would take a turn for the worse, ending in the shooting of Laramiun by Oshea. “My son was gone. I was angry and hated this boy, hated his mother.” said Johnson as she recounted the immediate aftermath and to be honest, who could blame her. But as Oshea served his 17 year prison sentence, Johnson struggled with her faith as overtime she felt a greater urge to meet Israel face-to-face in order to see whether she could indeed forgive him. Remarkably, she did and now Israel and Johnson are not only good friends, but take their message of forgiveness to churches, prisons, and to whoever would listen. “Unforgiveness is like cancer” she says, “It will eat you from the inside out.”
Read more: http://list25.com/25-unbelievable-inspiring-acts-forgiveness/
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