News
Dr. Enright Featured at Healthy Aging Conference
Catholic Charities will host their Fifth Annual Healthy Aging Conference on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at the Sheraton Inn, 706 John Nolen Drive in Madison, WI.
The conference features two keynote speakers and eight workshops devoted to helping seniors, their adult children, and caregivers become familiar with the scope of alternatives that lead to positive and healthy aging.
Dr. Enright pioneered the social scientific study of forgiveness beginning in 1985 and currently works with schools in Belfast, Galilee, and 30 other world communities, helping teachers set-up forgiveness education programs. He is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the UW-Madison and a founding board member of the International Forgiveness Institute, Inc.
Curt Campbell, PT, NCS, ATP will present the noon keynote address, “Mobility and Successful Aging.” Campbell focuses on older adults with neurological issues including Parkinson’s disease, stroke, ALS, multiple sclerosis, vertigo, balance and mobility problems. He has been a Dean Clinic physical therapist for 10 years.
Conference attendees will be able to choose two workshops, one in the morning and one in the afternoon from a selection of eight:
- ”Dimensions of Wellness” by Gayle Laszewski, older adult program director, Goodman Community Center.
- “I Don’t Want to Move, I Want to Stay Independent” by Peggy Carroll, information and assistance specialist, ADRC.
- “Yoga and Fall Prevention” by Paul Mross RYT, LMT, yoga instructor/researcher and founder of Happy, Healthy Aging Preventative Programs: Yoga.
- “I have high blood pressure, not hypertension: Better Health Literacy Means Better Health” by Steve Sparks, director of the Wisconsin Health Literacy.
- ”Boost Your Brain Health: Your brain and how to keep it strong.” Tips to reduce risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia by Joy Schmidt, community education specialist at The Alzheimer’s & Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin.
- ”Diabetes Prevention: Your lifestyle, the easy, but not so easy
choices you make every day” by Paul Manning, chief mission advancement officer at the YMCA of Dane County. - Live Longer: Choose Hospice” by Melanie Ramey JD, MSW / CEO The HOPE of Wisconsin.
- ”Mind Over Matter, Brain Over Bladder” by Dr. Dobie Giles, chief of female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery in the UW ob-gyn division of gynecology.
Registration is open online at www.ccmadison.org or by mail. Visit www.ccmadison.org and download an invitation/registration form. For seniors and students, the fee is $35; professionals, $65. The registration deadline is Wednesday, Sept. 2.
The Importance of Housing Accommodations for Those With Disabilities and Special Needs
Seattle, WA – A truly inviting home environment is an important aspect of dealing with forgiveness and mental health for senior citizens and those with physical disabilities, special needs, or Alzheimer’s. It’s vital they and their loved ones have access to the best resources about how to make their homes livable and enjoyable.
Now there is a unique resource to help the disabled–or those who care for them–plan, finance, and complete beneficial home modifications. A handy guide called “Home Remodeling for Disability and Special Needs: What You Need to Know,” has been developed by Expertise, a consumer resource center based in Seattle, WA.
This newly-released guide identifies legal and financial resources available to citizens, seniors, and veterans; offer tips to hire the right home remodeler; and suggests modifications throughout the home to make the space as accommodating as possible. Importantly, the guide lists nearly 30 websites where government and private sector programs are available to help those who fall into this category.
It also outlines requirements and benefits of the American Disabilities Act of 1990, the Fair Housing Act, the various financial assistance programs offered by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and Special Housing Adaptation Grants through the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.
There is absolutely no cost to access the entire guide at the Expertise website. While you’re there, check-out their dozens of other consumer and business publications.
North Carolina Couple Forgives Errant Driver After Losing Both Sons in Crash
WBTV News, Charlotte, N.C. – A couple who lost their two children – a newborn and toddler – in a fatal chain-reaction crash in late May, have forgiven the driver of the truck who caused the wreck.
Hadley Eddings and her husband Gentry first lost their 2-year-old son who was killed instantly in the crash. Then Hadley, 8-months pregnant, gave emergency birth at a local hospital to their premature son, Reed. He died three days later.
Hadley and Gentry, both 28-year-olds and married exactly six years on the day of the crash, say they have deep faith. According to Gentry, he had forgiven the driver by the time he arrived at the hospital that night.
“I remember being there in the hospital in the first 24 hours, I didn’t even know the driver’s name then,” Gentry said. “I was trying to figure out all my own emotions. I didn’t know if I’d be able to forgive this guy and I asked God for help. I said, ‘God, you know how’.”
“Well, just think about it from his (the driver’s) perspective,” Hadley added, voicing a concern few victims consider but which is an important component of forgiveness. “Can you just imagine being the person who ran into the back of three cars and killed two sons? Can you just imagine the burden your heart would feel? I would be devastated.”
After the crash, friends set up a GoFundMe page that raised more than $200,000 in two months. But Gentry and Hadley say that those who want to support the legacy of their sons should help a Haiti mission where the couple has served – mohhaiti.org.
“Mission of Hope Haiti” works to transform Haiti through various projects including orphan care, education, health care, nutrition, church advancement and empowerment programs for women and their families.
Read more: NC couple relies on faith, forgiveness after losing both sons in crash.
Forgiveness: How Anyone Can Learn This Virtue
MercatorNet.com, North Strathfield, Australia –
The world is overshadowed by atrocities which cry out for justice – and forgiveness: the brutality of ISIS, the abductions of Boko Haram; the Boston Marathon bombing; terrorist attacks in New York, London, Madrid, Sydney, Paris; the Charleston massacre…
We asked Robert Enright, a psychologist and founding board member of the International Forgiveness Institute, as well as author of a new book, 8 Keys to Forgiveness, how some people manage to forgive even crimes like these, and whether it’s an art that can be learned.
That’s the introduction to an article published today by MercatorNet, an Australian online news and commentary site whose goal is “navigating modern complexities.” In the article, Dr. Enright explains:
- Why some people forgive while others remain full of hate;
-
Why forgiveness is so much more than just a coping mechanism;
- Why forgiveness education should be a learning staple for all children; and,
- How forgiveness, including self-forgiveness, can be learned by anyone in the world.
“Forgiveness is about having love in the heart for those who have not been loving to you,” Dr. Enright explains. He adds that the “how to” of 
forgiveness, including even how to forgive yourself, is spelled out in his just-released book, 8 Keys to Forgiveness.
“Forgiveness is open to all people in the world if they choose to exercise this particular virtue when hurt by others,” the article quotes Dr. Enright as saying. “Our research includes people of many faith traditions, as well as those with no faith. When those who choose the forgiveness path finish the work, their well-being tends to improve as seen in the research findings.”
Read the entire article: Forgiveness: why we need to have mercy on the merciless. . .and how anyone can learn this virtue.
African-American Church has “deep history of forgiveness”
Editor’s Note: This a follow-up article to the story we posted yesterday on the forgiveness offered by the victim’s families to the suspect accused of killing nine people during a Bible study session at a Charleston church (see below). Journalist Adam Harris wrote this article for BBC News.
“What we saw in court today was the best of the black tradition – that your evilness, your hatred will not distort the faith,” says Dr. Eddie Glaude, professor of religion and African American studies at Princeton University. “There is a tendency to normalise black forgiveness and, in doing so, lose sight of what a miracle it is.”
By all accounts, the African-American church has a deep history of forgiveness rooted in faith and tied into the history of white supremacy in the US.
“Members of the black church believe in the ethos of the founding figures: all persons are created equal in the sight of God,” according to Dr. Alton Pollard III, dean of the Howard School of Divinity.
That notion is what makes it easier to forgive.
“God is always greater and because of that, even in horrific conditions, we can still be faithful,” says Dr Pollard. “Because of faithfulness, we have the capacity to forgive.”
That ability to forgive has emerged as both an act of mercy and a tool against oppression.
Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said: “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.”
“There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us,” he added. “When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
Read the unedited, full-length version of this BBC News article – Charleston shootings: Power of forgiveness in African-American church
Here’s another BBC News article you’ll want to read – South Carolina shooting: Historic Church that hosted Dr King about the amazing history of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) and its important role in the civil rights movement. In 1822, for example, the Church was a target of the authorities who foiled a planned slave revolt led by Denmark Vesey, one of the founders. More than 1,000 people were arrested over the plan and 35 of them, including Vesey, were executed and the church itself was burned to the ground. It was rebuilt in 1834. As it looks today. ⇒
