What makes a man change.... ?

This is the most positive news I have seen this week : a man who was a racist for years, who took part in multiple beatings of blacks in the 60s, joined the KKK and didn't even want his parents buried where blacks may be buried apologized to the man he attacked (John Lewis now a Congressman) at a South Carolina bus station during a protest in 1961.

Apparently, the catalyst was Obama's election. It seems almost too nice to be true. Can someone make such a dramatic turnaround in his life? Well, apparently it was a long process, the man said "he had felt an urge to voice his remorse for years" and according to Brian Williams (see here below), it was church and faith that helped him change.