Voice 1
Hello. I’m Ruby Jones.
Voice 2
And I’m Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
‘Violence is the tool used by people who do not know anything better. I believe that violence is also the tool of desperate and hopeless people.’
Voice 1
A religious leader in Jerusalem said this. He was talking about a period of violence in March 2008. Over one hundred [100] Palestinians were killed in Gaza. And the following week, eight Jewish students were shot. Conflict in the Middle East has caused many tragedies over many years. Yet still no one has found an answer to solve the crisis, and stop the killings.
Today’s Spotlight is one of two programmes on hatred and humanity. We tell the stories of individuals who had to deal with violent crime. We tell how they chose to deal with their feelings of hate.
Voice 2
July, 1986. A New York police officer was walking in Central Park. His name was Steven McDonald. He was protecting the area from trouble. He noticed three young men. He thought he recognised them as wanted criminals. So he went to them, to ask them a few questions. One of the boys seemed to be hiding something under his clothes. Steven tried to investigate. He was not expecting what happened next. One of the boys pulled out a gun. He shot Steven in the head and neck. Steven fell to the ground. Blood poured from his head.
Other police officers ran to Steven’s side. They took him to a hospital. Quietly, they prayed that their friend would survive. In the hospital, doctors worked hard. They managed to save Steven’s life. But they could not repair the severe damage to his backbone. Later, Steven wrote about that time:
Voice 4
‘A doctor spoke to my wife, Patti Anne and me. He said that I would be paralyzed from the neck down - I would be unable to move for the rest of my life. I was married just eight months. My wife was twenty-three [23] years old. And she was three months pregnant. Patti Anne was crying uncontrollably. I cried too. I was locked in my body - unable to reach out to her.’
Voice 2
Steven was in hospital for the next eighteen [18] months. While he was there, his wife gave birth to their baby boy, Connor. The only part of Steven’s body with feeling was his face. This is how he felt his son.
Steven and Patti Anne went to church for Connor’s baptism ceremony. Steven chose this time to tell people how he felt about the boy who shot him. His name was Shavod Jones. With tears in her eyes, Patti Anne read Steven’s statement. It said;
Voice 4
‘I forgive him. And I hope that he can find peace and purpose in his life.’
Voice 2
Steven’s statement shocked many people. Many of his friends did not understand why Steven chose to forgive. He tried to explain;
Voice 4
‘I wanted to free myself of all the negative emotions - emotions that this act of violence awoke in me - the anger, the bitterness, the hatred. I needed to be free so that I could love my wife, our child and those around us.’
Voice 2
Steven explained that forgiving Shavod was a long process. It took him many years to forgive completely. He also explained that forgiving did not remove the struggle. It did not remove all the questions:
Voice 4
‘We still struggle every day. My wife wants to know why... My son sees other fathers and sons playing. He wants to know why he can not have those experiences with his father. So we still struggle.’
Voice 2
Steven did more than forgive the man who shot him. He found himself caring about the future of Shavod Jones. Steven learned that Shavod was only fifteen years old at the time of the shooting. He also learned that Shavod had a troubled past. And he had mental health problems.
And so Steven wrote to Shavod in prison. He even prayed for him! In fact, Steven said that somehow the shooting deepened his Christian faith:
Voice 4
‘Before I was shot, I had not been very interested in my faith. The shooting changed that. I feel close to heaven today, in a way I never knew before.’
Voice 2
A year or two later Steven received a telephone call from a prison. It was Shavod Jones. He apologised - he said he was sorry. Steven told him that he hoped they could work together sometime in the future. He wanted to share their story with others. He wanted others to know the power of one act of violence.
But Steven’s dreams of telling their story together never happened. In 1995, the prison released Shavod. Only a few days later, he got on the back of his friend’s motorcycle. They rode along the streets. Tragically, his friend lost control of the motorcycle. It smashed into two cars. And Shavod Jones died.
For Steven and his wife, the memory of Shavod Jones lives on in the story they tell - and the way they live their lives. Shavod’s act of violence permanently damaged Steven’s body. But Steven would not permit it to permanently damage his mind or spirit. He said,
Voice 4
‘I often tell people that there is only one thing worse than a bullet in my backbone. That is filling my heart with hate and revenge.’
Voice 2
In the beginning, Steven said he chose to forgive for himself - and his family. But today, he sees his act of forgiveness as part of something bigger. This is the message he tells people:
Voice 4
‘God has turned something terrible into something beautiful. I think God wants to use both our abilities and our disabilities. He needs our arms and our legs. He needs our minds and our hearts. God needs all that we have to let others know that he is alive and well. He needs all that we have to let others know that he loves us and wants us to love each other.’
Voice 2
Steven now believes that forgiveness is the only way that individuals will bring change to a world of conflict and pain:
Voice 4
‘Forgiveness is a subject that people need to hear about today more than ever. As human beings we need forgiveness - we may be giving it - or asking for it... Forgiveness is really about our own healing. We may experience big or small wrongs. But in the end, we choose what we do.
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