God Unites

Lisa Daniels found healing when she forgave her son's killer. She now leads the Darren B. Easterling Center for Restorative Practices. Through her work, Lisa lives out Jesus's teachings on forgiveness from the Sermon on the Mount. Her story shows restorative justice principles in action.

Confronting System Failures
Lisa shares her direct experience with the criminal justice system. She found that officials often ignore or minimize victims' interests and views. This happens even when they claim to seek justice for victims. Her insights come from personal loss, not theoretical understanding.

Informed by Experience
Lisa brings a realistic perspective to her work. Her clarity comes from both her personal journey and professional experience. Until recently, she served on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. There, she reviewed applications from people serving long sentences for serious crimes.

Restorative Justice Principles
In the latter part of this episode, Lisa moves beyond her personal story. She explains the basic principles of restorative justice that now drive her life's work. These principles focus on healing for all involved parties rather than punishment alone.

What is God Unites?

In a world of contention and division - regarding politics, power, and even religion - the spirit of God unites.

God Unites is an interfaith audio and video podcast program fostering "Spiritual Unity in Religious Diversity" through sharing stories of faith journeys and conversations and commentary about topics of common interest.

Topics include freedom of religion, strengthening families, worship practices, justice and forgiveness, and the reality of God and God's workings in our lives and in the world today.

The program's founder and host is David Risley, a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which teaches the spiritual kinship of all people as children of God and the foundational importance of freedom of religion and respect for those of other faiths.

The perspective of this program is illustrated in its logo, featuring overlapping circles symbolizing diversity of religions and faith traditions, each with unique characteristics, and yet a common core of spiritual kinship centered on God.

As we each tune into the spirit of God, God unites us in our diversity into a heavenly harmony.

As we draw closer to God, we draw closer to each other. And, as we draw closer to each other, we draw closer to God.