“Yes, in a gospel sense, forgiveness is unilateral in declaring liberation from deathly retributive cycles while practicing the freedom of assertive love.  It is about recognizing the image of God somewhere in even the worst offender.  But this love is also committed to dignity, to re-membering all that has been dis-membered, to truth-telling, to the fullness and care of mourning, to manifesting a jaw-dropping and embodied hope, to repentance and atonement, and to an emerging and transformed narrative that promises deliverance.” –SH