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Intelligent people don't want to be told what to think. Intelligent people want to have the resources and the material and the inspiration to rethink things they already believe and feel. And that's what I hope the film does—sort of rekindle the opportunity to say, "Look, we don't like the way things are going here. Maybe we need to go back to the basics, and maybe forgiveness is one of those things we've left behind."

Did any of your ideas about forgiveness change or evolve as you made this film?

Doblmeier: Yes, they did. I used to think of forgiveness, frankly, as a spare tire that you keep in the trunk of your car and you hope to God you never need it. But now I see it in a very different way. I have begun to use forgiveness as one of the windows through which I observe the world. And in doing that, I get a slightly different perception of why family members act the way they do, why community members behave they do, why workmates and associates act the way they do—sometimes even why countries behave the way they do.

These unresolved issues of forgiveness—the inability to come to a point where you feel at peace with yourself and those around you—really become a way to see the world anew. I'm not saying that it's the only way; I wouldn't even begin to say that. But it's one of the paradigms through which I now try to observe the world, and it's been really an interesting experience to do it that way.

I think it's something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

For more on the film, click here. A one-hour version of the film will air on public television in late March; check your PBS schedule, or check www.ThePowerofForgiveness.com in early March for info.

Sam O'Neal is managing editor of the Discipleship Team for Christianity Today International.

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