Peter and Linda Biehl embraced the families of their daughter's killers. It not only helped the great experiment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission survive, it demonstrated to those who doubted the innovative program that something positive could come of it, even in a land torn by racial violence for generations. It hasn't worked perfectly. Nothing ever does, but the commission sends a message that people of all colors and backgrounds can listen, learn, and empathize, though they may never have experienced the same situations that created the pain. It sends the message that people can stop the passion of anger with the power of the mind and the heart.
People can change.
Of course not. She can reach out for help, she can forgive him without staying with him, and she can regain her self-respect. And in doing so, we save ourselves. T here are physiological differences between those who hold grudges and those who are able to let go and forgive. Anger creates enormous stress that damages the cardiovascular system.