My daughter rents old episodes of Ghost Whisperer, a series about a woman who talks with the spirits of the dead and helps them move to the light. She watches them in the afternoon and I sit and hang out after work with Rowan and Dustin, my cynical son. It really is very corny, but damned if I don’t get a little teary every now and then in between witty comments. I think it must be these messages of redemption and forgiveness which I find appealing in any form. The idea that forgiveness is not just, or even at all, for the person who has offended. Forgiveness is healing and powerful for the person who is victimized.

I heard a story on NPR about the anniversery of the shooting in the Amish school about how the whole community reached out to the shooter’s family in forgiveness. It did not ease their grief, but at least it gave them more space to honor the dead without all those thoughts of vengeance crowding in and getting in the way of healing. I think as a country we could learn something from the Amish.

Unfortunately fear and vengeance are similarly powerful and even more visceral messages, which have been used to manipulate our country into many unpleasant, unjust, and downright murderous actions.

I would not nominate Ghost Whisperer for any award (it is so corny it probably was written in Nebraska, and Jennifer Love Hewitt, though attractive in a very clean way, acts like she is reading her lines at times), but I don’t mind the message that love, forgiveness, and redemption should rule our hearts and send us toward the light.Thats OK with me, really I’m alright. Can you hand me a tissue? My eyes are watering. I must be tired or something.