I saw an ‘ad’ in The Economist magazine for the ‘Templeton Foundation. The ad showcases articles by famous scientists/scholars on “Does the Universe Have a Purpose?” www.Templeton.org/purpose and http://www.templeton.org/. The ad really piqued my interest so I spent some time reading, listening and watching some of the material on and links from their web site. I discovered that the foundation is in the forefront of bringing a new dimension to science and tying science with religion. This foundation also funded a most incredible film titled “The Power of Forgiveness.” The film is bringing publicity to this new discipline: forgiveness – even more powerful than ‘peace.’ A Subud member, Alexandra Asseily, was featured in this award winning film for her work on a Garden of Forgiveness in Beirut. At one time she was head of the Red Cross in Lebanon distributing millions of dollars of aid after the 1975 war. The war in the summer of 2006 halted the garden project, but it is not forgotten. Partly because she is married to the former Lebanese ambassador to Britain, she was able to gain use of a site in the center of Beirut surrounded by mosques, churches and a synagogue. It is also home to at least six layers of civilizations.
I have a copy of this film that Alexandra gave me and hope to show it when I get home. I've put some info about the film in the "Comments" to this post.
Alexandra is the person wearing a hat in the attached photo.
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The POWER of FORGIVENESS
“This documentary by Journey Films was recently awarded Best Documentary at the third annual Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival, in Idaho, USA.
Singled out by the judges as a film that "struck a deep chord in the audience’s heart," the film was screened during the festival (September 14 – 16) at the Sun Valley Opera House to a sold out crowd. Film Festival Director Claudio Ruben added, ‘For its message and the quality of its filmmaking the Sun Valley Festival was honored to award this prize at this year’s festival.’
The Power of Forgiveness includes feature stories on the Amish, the 9/11 tragedy, and peace-building in Northern Ireland, along with interviews with renowned Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel, best-selling authors Thomas Moore and Marianne Williamson, and others. It explores the role forgiveness holds in various faith traditions and examines how the scientific community is now measuring the physical and mental benefits of letting go of grief and resentment.
Doblmeier notes, ‘The word ‘forgiveness’ may be the most provocative word in our culture today. There is an underlying anger in our country that we see regularly in our movies, in the news, even on our highways. For some, that anger is acceptable while others are calling for a new direction in our thinking and the way we interact with others. Forgiveness proves itself not only to be good for our health, but it offers a solid first step in that new direction.’
The film is a presentation of South Carolina ETV. Major funding for The Power of Forgiveness was provided by Fetzer Institute as part of its Campaign for Love and Forgiveness and by The John Templeton Foundation.”
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