Smooch

Today, I was reading an article on the memorial events surrounding the 10th anniversary of the September 11th tragedies and an organization caught my eye. The non profit is called Beyond the 11th and it was founded as an extraordinary response to unspeakable loss.

When Dawn asked me if I would be interested in working with her on Smooch, I hesitated only a moment before I said yes.  I hesitated not because I didn’t believe in Dawn and her team, but because of the subject. I knew the story she wanted to tell about forgiveness in unforgivable circumstances and I saw the footage of Mary and O’shea and a little of their journey. It made me really look inside myself and think “could I forgive that?”

I have a son and I tried to put myself in Mary’s place. I could definitely sympathize with her loss, but I have to admit, I would have significant trouble forgiving someone like O’shea. And then I put myself in Carolyn Green’s place, O’shea’s mother. How would I feel if I were her? We mostly forget about the perpetrators. We don’t think about whether they can be redeemed or about  their families and the grief they must feel. I know I had never put myself in their shoes. I am sure they never thought about it either until it happened.

It is with great excitement and just a wee bit of anxiety that I’m about to step on a plane and fly to Ecuador!  What does this have to do with SMOOCH?  Turns out, a lot! 

Hi, my name is Dawn Mikkelson and I’m the Director of SMOOCH and the SMOOCH Global Forgiveness Initiative.  Why take on the topic of forgiveness?  Believe it or not, this topic is proving to be quite controversial, especially around the definition of the word forgiveness (which will be discussed in later posts . . .).