I chose the forgiveness story of Richard McCann. When Ricard was six years old his mother was murdered by a serial killer in Yorkshire, England. Richard’s story describes how anger developed after his mother’s murder and followed him into adulthood. Richard also had to overcome anger toward his abusive father, who took custody of Richard and his siblings after his mother’s death. In Richard’s story he tells how he was able to forgive, heal and move forward by taking the first step of writing and telling his story. I am interested in Richard’s story because I want to understand how people forgive the unforgivable and how people forgive an unforgivable person. I was also drawn to the story because Richard is also able to forgive someone …show more content…
He felt that joining this group changed his life. That for the first time in his life he had people to talk to who had had similar experiences. Richard wanted his mother’s killer to show remorse. This never happened. He never had the opportunity to get that from her killer, but Richard managed to arrive at forgiveness for the man anyway, by realizing that it would make his mother proud. Richard unknowingly worked through Worthington’s REACH model step by step. He, by publishing his autobiography, which detailed his childhood and the catastrophic event of his mother’s murder, he publically stated his intention to forgive his mother’s killer. The final step in REACH is to hold onto forgiveness. Richard has managed to do this, but it is a constant work in progress. He said, “ I don’t believe forgiveness is a one off act; it’s rather something that enters and leaves our consciousness like the tide and it requires working through continually.” Richard had to apply the same idea of forgiveness to his abusive father as well. Clearly, forgiving his father is a work in progress too, since when he recalls his dad’s drowning of the family dog, he still admits that that particular act is hard for him to forgive and move on from. Richard stated, “I am still struggling to find forgiveness for that one incident.” This shows that there are varying levels of forgiveness and that some events are easier to move on from than