Listening to the Future as a Means of Forgiving the Past. The Seven Pillars of Forgiveness in Building Sustainable Futures and Resolving Conflict - Free Zoom Webinar, 20 Oct
Listening to the Future as a Means of Forgiving the Past. The Seven Pillars of Forgiveness in Building Sustainable Futures and Resolving Conflict. Free Zoom Webinar, Monday 20 October - 7.00 - 8.30pm.
The Past.
We’ve all been there!
It’s the land of the lost, where time is frozen, and the place where all problems, difficulties and conflicts originate.
The place where some things went right, but a lot of other things went wrong and it’s certainly not a place where you can travel back in time and undo the deeds that were done.
For if you had a time machine and could travel back in time then maybe by an even bigger mistake you could kill your grandfather when he was a boy and then you wouldn’t have ever existed due to your own fault! At least you then wouldn’t have committed the wrongs that you went back to the past to fix in the first place!
When things go wrong and conflict occurs the past seems to be the thing that we spend most of the time talking about, to, at, and sometimes even with each other.
What went wrong and why and who is to blame for how things are now.
If someone admits that they did something wrong, then perhaps they apologise and seek and may be granted forgiveness for what they did.
This process features prominently in the Catholic faith in the sacrament of Confession where a person confesses their “sins” and a person (a priest) who wasn’t even the victim of the “sin” somehow has the power to grant the wrongdoer absolution from what they did without any reference to the victim!
Sometimes the very fact of forgiveness can itself also be weaponised. Because it can or can’t be granted with terms and conditions attached that are themselves controlling and punishing and might themselves need forgiving for imposing them as a kind of revenge for the original transgression. Is this really forgiveness?
Can forgiveness not just relate to the past but also the future and not only release us from the wrongs we have or might have done but restore the future to something better than it might have been without that forgiveness?
Isn't it also true that we sometimes need forgiveness not just from others but also ourselves? For even after others forgive us, we often hold on to guilt, remorse, and regret long after the fact and may end up doing more harm to ourselves than we have done to others.
In this free Zoom Webinar we shall be looking in a live, practical, and interactive way at two main things:
- How do we change the focus from talking about the past to listening to the future and what that might need?
- What are the seven pillars of Forgiveness and how can they help set the past, the present and the future all free?
All are welcome and hopefully it will be an interesting and enjoyable process together with some light bulb moments along the way.
Facilitator: Tony Kearney
Tony grew up in New Zealand where he trained as a solicitor. He then worked as a solicitor in London for over 20 years before moving to Ireland in 2006 to further his work around building sustainable relationships into the future. This includes planting a forest on the farm where he now lives and acting as a Mediator in workplace, community, schools, family, and commercial disputes. He also runs training and other events and is the author of five books.
To register for this Webinar or find out more email Tony at: tony.kearney6@gmail.com