A Story of Forgiveness:  A Tribute to the Life and the Legacy of Amy Biehl
Submitted by: Craig Lock

'South Africa honors mother of slain American
Linda Biehl joined reconciliation after apartheid, despite daughter's killing

PRETORIA, South Africa - South Africa is honoring her for helping it overcome the legacy of apartheid, but Linda Biehl says she has simply done what any parent would after the death of a child: tried to find meaning in loss.

Amy Biehl was stabbed and stoned to death in the waning days of apartheid in a township near Cape Town, where she was studying how women were contributing to change in South Africa. Her black assailants claimed the attack on the 26-year-old American, who was white, was part of the war on white rule.

"People don't want a death to be in vain or senseless," Linda Biehl told The Associated Press Monday — her 65th birthday and the eve of a ceremony at which President Thabo Mbeki is to grant her one of his nation's highest honors.

Biehl and her husband, Peter, who died in 2002, forgave the four men convicted in their daughter's 1993 slaying, and embraced the truth and reconciliation process on which South Africa embarked after white rule ended in 1994.

Amy Biehl's attackers were granted amnesty after confessing before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission headed by former Cape Town Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Two of them now work for a charity the Biehls founded that has provided training in arts, sports and other areas to young South Africans.

Seeking 'the humanity in all of us'
"If it weren't for the institutionalized process that we went through, we would not be connected in a personal reconciliation," said Biehl, who divides her time between Newport Beach, Calif., and Cape Town. "I'm just interested in finding the humanity in all of us, which I thought was the essence" of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Biehl said she sees her daughter's attackers as victims, too caught up in the struggle against apartheid to value life or consider personal responsibility. And now they and many like them are unequipped to prosper in post-apartheid South Africa.

"They had the skills to make the bombs, to strategize in guerrilla warfare," Biehl said, noting many slipped into crime after apartheid ended. She hopes working with her foundation will mean a better future for at least some of the generation that embraced the call for liberation before education.

"These are committed people ... they should also be part of the change," she said.

Composed under a sweep of blonde hair, Linda Biehl looks like an art gallery owner or manager of an upscale clothing store — both jobs she once held. In the years since her daughter's death, she has devoted most of her time to the Amy Biehl Foundation, and to speaking about forgiveness to audiences ranging from high school students in urban America to forums bringing together Palestinians and Israelis.

In announcing she was being awarded the Order of the Companion of O.R. Tambo, the president's office cited Linda Biehl's "outstanding spirit of forgiveness in the wake of the murder of her daughter and contributing to the promotion of non-racism in post-apartheid South Africa."

The award, named for the late African National Congress hero Oliver Tambo, has previously been granted to former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and, posthumously, to India's independence leader Mohandas Gandhi. Musician and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte was a fellow honoree this year.'
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story sourced from the www  and shared in a spirit of promoting reconciliation.

For further information on the tragically short life of Amy Biehl, as well as her parents, an amazing story of forgiveness, "google" her or visit http://www.capetimes.co.za/?fSectionId=273&fArticleId=nw20080421185529246C704910
http://myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=a_biehl
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24242249/page/1/.
http://www.theforgivenessproject.com/stories/linda-biehl-easy-nofemela

This short piece is dedicated to a true hero, Amy Biehl and also to her parents, Peter and Linda.

craig

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To end off, here are a few thoughts on forgiveness...
"Forgiveness is not an occasional act - it is an attitude of mind."
- Martin Luther King

"The noblest revenge is to forgive."
- Thomas Fuller, English author (1608-1661)

"If I don't forgive my enemies, I deny my right to have power over them."
- Martin Luther King or Robert Kennedy??

"One man (or woman) can make a difference."
- Robert Kennedy

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
- Martin Luther King, Jr (1929-1968, American Black Leader, Nobel Prize Winner, 1964)

"Violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul." So eulogised Robert Kennedy after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr in April 1968.

"Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the opression or persecution of others."
- John F Kennedy

"Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tide and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. Then, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire."
- Teilhard De Chardin

About the submitter:
Craig is passionate about his former country, South Africa and  writes about the "Beloved Country" in his novels. The inspiring story of Amy Biehl has a lot of meaning to his life and shares important themes from his own writings.

The various 'works' that "Craig felt inspired to write" are available at:
http://www.selfgrowth.com/experts/craig_lock.html
http://www.craiglockbooks.com and
http://www.myspace.com/writercraig

Craig Lock is presently working on his latest novel 'The Awakened Spirit',  based on some true and inspiring stories of the indomitable human spirit, that lies within each one of us. Amy Biehl's story and inspiring legacy may be one of them!

"First steps on the path to peace begins with talking, which leads to some understanding... which then leads to negotiation.. which leads to eventual peace."
- craig inspired by the words of Amy Biehl

One person CAN make a difference. Just plant that seed...
and watch it grow!

"Together, let's see how many people we can impact, empower, encourage and perhaps even inspire to reach their fullest potentials."