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Blog archive

March 2025

About Senior Solutions
03/28/2025

Building a Bridge With Journey House, A Home Base for Former Foster Youth
03/28/2025

Come for the Knitting, Stay for the Conversation... and the Cookies
03/28/2025

Creating Safe and Smart Spaces with Home Technology
03/28/2025

Finding Joy in My Role on The Pasadena Village Board
03/28/2025

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!
03/28/2025

Managing Anxiety
03/28/2025

Message from Our President: Keeping Pasadena Village Strong Together
03/28/2025

My Favorite Easter Gift
03/28/2025

The Hidden History of Black Women in WWII
03/28/2025

Urinary Tract Infection – Watch Out!
03/28/2025

Volunteer Coordinator and Blade-Runner
03/28/2025

Continuing Commitment to Combating Racism
03/26/2025

Status - March 20, 2025
03/20/2025

Goodbye and Keep Cold by Robert Frost
03/13/2025

What The Living Do by Marie Howe
03/13/2025

Racism is Not Genetic
03/11/2025

Bill Gould, The First
03/07/2025

THIS IS A CHAPTER, NOT MY WHOLE STORY
03/07/2025

Dramatic Flair: Villagers Share their Digital Art
03/03/2025

Empowering Senior LGBTQ+ Caregivers
03/03/2025

A Life Never Anticipated
03/02/2025

Eaton Fire Changes Life
03/02/2025

February 2025

Commemorating Black History Month 2025
02/28/2025

Transportation at the Pasadena Village
02/28/2025

A Look at Proposition 19
02/27/2025

Behind the Scenes: Understanding the Pasadena Village Board and Its Role
02/27/2025

Beyond and Within the Village: The Power of One
02/27/2025

Celebrating Black Voices
02/27/2025

Creatively Supporting Our Village Community
02/27/2025

Decluttering: More Than The Name Implies
02/27/2025

Hidden Gems of Forest Lawn Museum
02/27/2025

LA River Walk
02/27/2025

Message from the President
02/27/2025

Phoenix Rising
02/27/2025

1619 Conversations with West African Art
02/25/2025

The Party Line
02/24/2025

Bluebird by Charles Bukowski
02/17/2025

Dreams by Langston Hughes
02/17/2025

Haiku - Four by Fritzie
02/17/2025

Haikus - Nine by Virginia
02/17/2025

Wind and Fire
02/17/2025

Partnerships Amplify Relief Efforts
02/07/2025

Another Community Giving Back
02/05/2025

Diary of Disaster Response
02/05/2025

Eaton Fire: A Community United in Loss and Recovery
02/05/2025

Healing Powers of Creative Energy
02/05/2025

Living the Mission
02/05/2025

Message from the President: Honoring Black History Month
02/05/2025

Surviving and Thriving: Elder Health Considerations After the Fires
02/05/2025

Treasure Hunting in The Ashes
02/05/2025

Villager's Stories
02/05/2025

A Beginning of Healing
02/03/2025

Hectic Evacuation From Eaton Canyon Fire
02/02/2025

Hurricanes and Fires are Different Monsters
02/02/2025

January 2025

FINDING PEACE OF MIND THROUGH FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION

By Edward A. Rinderle
Posted: 12/19/2024
Tags: ed rinderle, newsletter january 2025

Pasadena Village Education Team hosted a presentation on forgiveness at Connect 2 Rise in Pasadena.  Dr. Richard Lyon was invited to speak on this topic based upon his first presentation to the Village a few years ago.   

Dr. Lyon has a Master of Divinity Degree from Fuller Seminary and a PhD in Human Development from Claremont Graduate University. He has been in private practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist since 1991.  

In his description of his lecture, Dr. Lyon said “Learning to forgive is more than a moral mandate. Forgiveness can liberate us from the tyranny of false hopes and corrosive resentments, and thereby improve our emotional, physical, and relational well-being.” He went on to say, “The concept of forgiveness can be easy to understand but difficult to implement.”

Dr. Lyon gave his presentation using a series of ideas loaded with information. Among the topics he covered are:

- Achieving balance between integrity (satisfaction) and despair (regret). That balance is the fruit of forgiveness.

- Forgiving ourselves as well as others. Forgiving ourselves leads to wisdom.

- Addressing the misunderstanding and misuse of the concept of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not “excusing.” Nor is it “forgetting” or “reconciling.”          

- Recognizing that forgiveness begins with a loss and a feeling that the forgiven owes us some debt. Forgiveness involves canceling that debt.       

- Heeding the process of forgiveness. Forgiveness involves remembering, grieving, and rethinking.  Rethinking can lead to finding empathy for one's self. Dr. Lyon says “Forgiveness is usually more therapeutic for the forgiver than for the forgiven.”  

- Understanding that forgiveness requires compassion, courage, and wisdom. Forgiveness also generates these same traits.  

- Understanding that forgiveness is difficult.

- Realizing that not forgiving comes with a cost.    

Finally, Dr. Lyon emphasized that we may or may not find reconciliation in our forgiving. But we know the process is complete when we can wish the forgiven well.

Among the Villagers present, several shared their reactions to the presentation. Wayne April said, “I found the Forgiveness presentation very interesting, although I felt I should be taking notes for the test. Very meaty. The question-and-answer period was engaging.” Jim Hendrick concluded, “I learned that true forgiveness requires more than an apology.”

If you missed the presentation, you might like to watch the recording of Dr. Lyon's 2022 presentation on Pasadena Village's YouTube Channel. 

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