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From Thanksgiving to Forgiving: Workshops for the New Year

The First Forgiveness Workshop at Unity North Church in Marietta (Atlanta area).

At the start of every new year, we have the opportunity to wipe the slate clean: mentally by addressing old habits that no longer serve us; physically by cleaning out old and unused objects that clutter our homes; and spiritually, by releasing the old anger and resentments clogging up our psyches.

It occurred to me that this process, which often begins around the holidays as we close off one year and move into the next, has a name: Thanksgiving to Forgiving. During Thanksgiving we focus on gratitude, which is a wonderful place to begin when we do forgiveness work.

Then we move into the part of the year where we spend the most amount of time with family. For many people, this can trigger all kinds of forgiveness work! For better or worse, our families gives us lots of spiritual material to work with, if we're willing of course.

And finally, the New Year occurs with all it connotes about fresh beginnings, turning over new leaves, and making the kind of changes to have a happy and productive year. Therefore it only seemed natural to give a series of workshops focusing exactly on this: engaging in the dark, tough, unsavory inner work necessary to release, unhook, and let go of grievances of any kind.

So far we have done two workshops in the Atlanta area, and one in the Richmond area. As of now we have one more scheduled for February 4 in Atlanta. Are you interested in joining us or in scheduling a workshop in your area? Contact us here and we can give you the information.

"Forgive everyone everything," said Charles Fillmore the co-founder of Unity. No doubt a tall order, but one well worth undertaking.