If forgiveness isn't back in vogue, at least it has been in the public eye a lot recently.
Gee Walker, mother of teenager Anthony Walker, who was murdered last summer not two or three miles from me, wore her Christian faith on her sleeve in the aftermath of her son's racist killing. She said she felt no bitterness towards his murderers, but forgave them - and the media praised her for it.
Jill Saward, the vicar's daughter raped in the most unimaginably brutal way twenty years ago, again reaffirmed her forgiveness towards her attackers this week.
Of course, not everyone can bring themselves to forgive - and I can't blame them. Forgiveness is an ideal, but not always a realistic one in a complex world. A vicar whose daughter was killed in last year's London bombings resigned this week because she could not forgive the terrorists.
Most interesting, in my opinion, has been the recent storyline in Coronation Street. I confess, in the last six months I have become utterly addicted to this show, which is still the one of the finest dramas on British television after forty-some years. In the latest plot turn, Emily Bishop - generally a tremendously dull character who hasn't had a good storyline to herself in eons - comes face-to-face with the now-genuinely repentant killer of her late husband, and sinks into a deep depression trying to reconcile her feelings of hatred with her devout Christian faith.
On last night's episode she forgave. I suppose some might find her turn-around hard to accept, even grossly unrealistic. All the same, I think Corrie was bold to tackle repentance and forgiveness head-on with this storyline, especially since the ambiguities of the situation defied easy answers.
Even the soap operas seem to be getting in with the forgiveness trend.
I've just realized the common thread linking these stories is that they are all about women. What's with that?
Make no bones about it, the Daily Mail is Britain's worst newspaper. And I say that as a bit of a lefty who still reads - and enjoys - The Telegraph. But there is good reason to buy the Mail for the next couple weeks. They're giving away a series of 12 great British films, beginning today with Kind Hearts and Coronets.
And on Monday (I think) they'll be giving away Billy Liar, my number one favourite film of all time. If you haven't seen it, don't miss it. The story was a book by Keith Waterhouse, and then a hit stage play co-authored with the late Willis Hall, but for me the defnitive incarnation was in this 1963 film starring Tom Courtenay and Julie Christie.
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