Interview: Roseville SDA Church

My first public interview about Rainbow Over Hell went very well. I was interviewed today at Roseville SDA Church in a special Sabbath School program highlighting stories of gratitude, forgiveness, and friendship.

Saburo Arakaki's forgiveness of the man who betrayed his trust was the featured forgiveness story. I was interviewed by my good friend, Bonnie Dwyer, who is the editor of Spectrum Magazine. Bonnie asked me what I had learned about forgiveness from translating Rainbow Over Hell. Since I was speaking to a crowd of about 75-100 people, presumably mostly Seventh-day Adventists, I talked about how the cycle of God's forgiveness is only complete when we can accept his forgiveness for us and then pass it on to others. It ought to be like a river flowing into our lives and through us to others.

Regardless of what one believes about God, I think it's hard to deny that an amazing transformation took place in Saburo Arakaki's life. His capacity for forgiveness is, for me, proof that the transformation he underwent was true and that he was changed at the core of his being.

Forgiveness should be a significant and regular part of our lives, I think. If we, as individuals, could learn to forgive as Arakaki did, cycles of hatred and violence might be broken. And instead, cycles of healing might take place.
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In other news: An announcement about Rainbow Over Hell ran in the Pacific Union College Church's email newsletter, thanks to Ginny Frost, manager of the Angwin Adventist Book Center.

A printed flyer advertising Rainbow Over Hell ran in the Roseville SDA Church's bulletin today as well.