53 SECTION 7 NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND FORGIVENESS 7.1 INTRODUCTION The message of reconciliation through faith in Jesus Christ is at the core of the life and ministry of the Church. The incarnation is all about God who had been wronged and seriously wounded by the human rebellion against him in Adam and Eve taking the first step to bring about reconciliation between himself and humanity. In our human understanding it is the guilty party that must take the first step and seek forgiveness from the person who has been wronged. What transpired in Jesus Christ defies all human imagination and understanding of what reconciliation is all about. The Church as the bearer of that message is the instrument through which God continues to reconcile humanity and the entire creation to himself, and to reconcile people with one another regardless of race, colour of skin, or religious affiliation. The message of reconciliation is therefore at the heart of the Church and constitutes its core business. However, reconciliation is not something that must just be proclaimed, but must be lived out, and in that way bring about social transformation as people begin to live in harmony with one another, with God, and with the entire creation. Reconciliation is about restoring broken relationships through forgiveness; it is about healing the spiritual and the physical wounds. The result can only be a peaceful environment in which people love and care for one another, live in true fellowship with God and one another, and seek nothing but the common good and the wellbeing of one another. Zimbabwe is yearning for peace and justice. At the root of that yearning is a cry for reconciliation and forgiveness. 7.2 THE CRY FOR RECONCILIATION IN ZIMBABWE TODAY Several historical developments in our nation demand that a process towards national reconciliation be initiated so that we can begin to move in the same direction, share the same vision of the Zimbabwe we want, and begin to reconstruct our broken economy and national pride, and heal the wounds. Several issues have left the nation torn apart and must be attended to in order to reconcile the nation and to achieve consensus on the fundamental developmental issues that concern our nation. At the moment national reconciliation is indeed the key to nation building and development in Zimbabwe. What are some of the issues that have led to so much alienation of the people of Zimbabwe from one another and from the rest of the world? The following are but some of the critical ones.