Debbie Reynolds’ example of forgiveness. The 78-year-old actress says she long-ago forgave Elizabeth Taylor for her 1950’s affair (leading to marriage and eventual divorce) with her then-husband Eddie Fisher. Speaking of Taylor, she says “She went through her younger years of just obtaining what she wanted,” adding “Later in life, she became a little more aware of other people’s feelings.” She says she her opportunity to forgive came when the two women unexpectedly found themselves aboard a cruise ship after both had remarried. What could have been a voyage through hell was transformed into a renewed friendship when she made the decision to forgive.

Two brilliant men take on cancer. Author Christopher Hitchens is fighting his esophageal cancer with the help of Dr. Francis Collins, the former head of the National Human Genome Research Project. Collins is an author too.  One of Hitchens’ most famous books is titled God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Collins wrote The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. The pair actually share a friendship that  began with debates over the existence of God. “It is a rather wonderful relationship,” Hitchens says, noting “I won’t say he doesn’t pray for me, because I think he probably does, but he doesn’t discuss it with me.”
It’s heartening that two people can disagree on such a fundamental question while building and maintaining respect and friendship toward one another. You can almost see the future play here, one which I hope has a happy ending. May both men live long, healthy lives filled with peace.

Lionsgate should discard its Trailer Trash. Its new animated web series, as described in The Wrap, focuses on the cultural musings of “a  family of trailer-dwelling, gleefully moronic low-lifes.” Frankly, I find the idea of labeling lower-income people who live in trailer parks as “trash” to be, well, annoying.  There are kids who live in trailer parks and, no doubt, have had the (for some reason) socially-acceptable insult used against them in many a school yard.
It constantly amazes me that we can simultaneously live in a culture that, on one hand, is on constant offense alert and, on the other, often strikes a downright nasty tone against those on no one’s protected list. For instance, groups ranging from the Catholic League to CAIR to GLAAD rarely let any attention-getting slight slide. That’s their right and, occasionally, things do need to be responded to. But I can’t help but think the world be a nicer place if the world were a nicer place — one in which we are all a little less on the lookout for reasons to have our collective feelings hurt (while finding villains in other groups) and more concerned with extending simple kindness and respect to everyone.
BTW, Trailer Trash, from the author and illustrator of Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks at Them (another charming title),  is also described as “foul mouthed and violent.” Peanuts, where are you?

Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11