Please join us this Wednesday, March 13 for our fifth Community Coffee Conversation on Forgiveness at 835 N Trade Street in Tryon. We will be talking about finding forgiveness in tragedy. This event is open to anyone interested in participating and it is not necessary to have been to any of the previous sessions to attend. The session runs from 3:30 to 5:00 pm and participants can come by during that time as their schedule allows.

 

We also hope to see you Sunday, March 17 at 10:30 am. Lyndon Harris will shares about the Prodigal Son. In this parable, love and forgiveness abound, even as a disgruntled older son refuses to participate. Some of the details of the story are shocking such as the idea that a Jewish son would be so desperate as to resort to feeding swine in order to survive. But even more shocking is the magnanimous love of a Middle Eastern patriarch for a son who, by any reasonable metric, would be considered disqualified and unworthy. But perhaps the timeless nature on the parable of the Prodigal Son has more to do with our own identification with the prodigal. The experience of loneliness, exile, and hunger are common to many of us at one time or another. Perhaps, like the Prodigal, we’re just trying to find our way home to a table where we are welcome and cherished. What secrets might this parable impart to us modern day prodigals as we seek to find our place in a community where we are cherished? Where our needs are met? Where we are blessed with meaningful work? Where we are able to grow closer to our full potential as blessed human beings? Join us on March 17th, and let’s explore what it means to journey toward “home” together.

 

Spring is just about here and many wildflowers are already bursting forth to greet it! Hope you can join us after this Sunday’s fellowship on an easy to moderate group hike at the nearby Twin Bridges pathway. It’s and in and out trail, so participants can walk as much as they want. Annie Ewing, our flower specialist will be there to help us identify the Trilliums, Bloodroots, Hepaticas, Dutchman’s Breeches, Star Chickweed, and more! Just come to fellowship prepared, wearing your walking clothes and proper footwear. Don’t forget to bring your walking sticks, water, and a sack lunch. For those who cannot join us, we [promise to take photos.

The Community Coffee Conversations on Forgiveness with Lyndon Harris and Robin Edgar are doing well and going strong. Several of the participants say it has really helped them and one even said they wished the sessions would last longer! If you haven’t had a chance to attend, please feel free to drop in on the last two sessions on March 13 and 27. The sessions are from 3:30 to 5:00 and if you cannot get there right when it starts, come when you can.

 

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March 3, 2019

“Beloved Community”

Lyndon Harris

One of the foundational guiding metaphors of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ministry and leadership in the Civil Rights movement is the idea of a “Beloved Community.” The beloved community is the community called to work together for justice through love. One of the best descriptions is his statement, “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.” Come join us on March 3rd, as we probe the depths of this compelling vision and seek ways to embody this idea in our own lives and in our community.

 

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March 17, 2019

“The Prodigal Son”

Lyndon Harris

To me, one of the most beloved teachings of Jesus is his parable of the Prodigal Son. In this parable, love and forgiveness abound, even as a disgruntled older son refuses to participate. Some of the details of the story are shocking such as the idea that a Jewish son would be so desperate as to resort to feeding swine in order to survive. But even more shocking is the magnanimous love of a Middle Eastern patriarch for a son who, by any reasonable metric, would be considered disqualified and unworthy. But perhaps the timeless nature on the parable of the Prodigal Son has more to do with our own identification with the prodigal. The experience of loneliness, exile, and hunger are common to many of us at one time or another. Perhaps, like the Prodigal, we’re just trying to find our way home to a table where we are welcome and cherished. What secrets might this parable impart to us modern day prodigals as we seek to find our place in a community where we are cherished? Where our needs are met? Where we are blessed with meaningful work? Where we are able to grow closer to our full potential as blessed human beings? Join us on March 17th, and let’s explore what it means to journey toward “home” together.

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UUFCF services are held at 10:30 a.m. on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month at

835 N. Trade St., Tryon

 

Coffee, light refreshments and fellowship follow our services.

Please join us this Wednesday, Feb 13 is our third Community Coffee Conversation on Forgiveness at 835 N Trade Street in Tryon. In our first session, we discussed what forgiveness means and, in the second session, we talked about unenforceable rules. This event is open to anyone interested in participating and it is not necessary to have been to any of the previous sessions to attend. The session runs from 3:30 to 5:00 pm. Feel free to come by during that time as your schedule allows.

Join trained forgiveness facilitators, Lyndon Harris and Robin A. Edgar, at the Community Coffee Conversation this Wednesday, January 30 at 3:30 PM at 835 N. Trade Street in Tryon to discover and discuss the practice and health benefits of forgiveness. Sessions are free and open to the public every other Wednesday through March 27 and anyone can attend any or all of the sessions.

Twenty people attended the first session on Jan 16, where Harris spoke about his personal journey to forgiveness and why we need to forgive for own health. Edgar laid the ground rules for conversation, emphasizing how important it was to truly listen to what others had to say.

“It’s amazing how people open up and share when they know they are in a safe environment to do so” says Edgar who facilitated Love and Forgiveness conversations for the Fetzer Institute.

Sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Carolina Foothills, coffee and light refreshments will be provided. For additional information, go to www.UUFCF.org or call 828-513-0570.

 

 

 

Are you renting out too much space in your head for a grievance that another person has long forgotten? Are you struggling in conflict with a loved one or finding it hard to forgive yourself for past mistakes? A person who forgives receives better cardiovascular health and a renewed energy inspired by hope and optimism. That’s why the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Carolina Foothills (UUFCF) is sponsoring a Community Coffee and Conversation series where everyone is welcome to discover and discuss the practice of forgiveness. Led by forgiveness teachers, Lyndon Harris and Robin A. Edgar, the sessions are free and open to the public starting on Wednesday, January 16 at 3:30 pm at 835 N. Trade Street in Tryon.

Lyndon Harris is an internationally known forgiveness coach, peace activist, and inspirational and motivational speaker. As the priest-in-charge of Saint Paul’s Chapel (located directly across from the World Trade Center in New York City), his involvement with Ground Zero has been written about in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and Die Zeit (Hamburg). His work in forgiveness is featured in the award winning documentary, “The Power of Forgiveness” (Journey Films 2006). In addition to helping to build Forgiveness Gardens across the world, he is also working on a community forgiveness pilot with Dr. Fred Luskin (www.learning to forgive.com), author of the bestselling book, Forgive for Good: A PROVEN Prescription for Health and Happiness.

“The wellness benefits are astounding,” says Harris. “A recent study indicates that the decision to forgive is good for us on a par with quitting smoking!”

Nationally known journalist, author, and workshop facilitator Robin A. Edgar teaches love and forgiveness as a former Love & Forgiveness Campaign facilitator with the Fetzer Institute. In coordination with her reminiscence workshops based on her book,In My Mother’s Kitchen: An Introduction to the Healing Power of Reminiscence, she did a TEDx talk entitled, “Reminiscence: A Healing Pathway to Forgiveness.”

“It is our goal to help individuals as well as to bring our community together through conversations about forgiveness,” says Edgar

Archbishop Desmond Tutu says, ‘There is no future without forgiveness.” Join the Community Coffee Conversations and explore this vital, and often misunderstood, topic!

For more information about the Community Coffee Conversations, call 864-457-7557.