December

September    |   October   |    November   |    January    |    February

Current Instructors

Dances of Universal Peace - Dec. 1  click for details

Bible Book of the Month, Dec. 2 click for details

Journaling, Dec. 2 click for dteails

Real Reconciliation
The Emotional Politics of Forgiveness

What does it take to really forgive? "Time heals all wounds," the saying goes—but sometimes the inner willingness to forgive or be forgiven isn’t enough to satisfy the deepest needs of the heart or restore the fabric of relationships. In most if not all cases of serious transgression, some kind of reparation, atonement, payback, or waiver of payback has to take place. Using real life stories and situations, we will explore the inner reflections, conversations, and rituals that can help us move from conflict and resentment to peace and connectedness. Real reconciliation involves honestly confronting the truth, acknowledging suffering, establishing accountability, and facilitating forgiveness. As individuals, communities, and even national bodies like South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission have discovered, the passage of time alone cannot resolve guilt and trauma or bring closure and genuine healing.

Arthur Pressley, Robert Corin Morris
Sunday, Dec. 3, 2-5 p.m.
$35 ($30 Members)
Summit Center

 

Cosponsored by The Center for Continuing Education, Drew University Theological School.
Add $35 for .25 CEU credit.

 

[ REGISTER NOW ]  [ INSTRUCTORS BIOS ]

Movies with Meaning discussion of “Benny & Joon,” Dec. 8

 

 

Eboo Patel of the Interfaith Youth Core

Fall Major Speaker Event

"A City Set on a Hill: The Promise and Challenge of an Interfaith America"

Eboo Patel believes that the powerful motivating force of religion can help shape constructive interfaith action together. This dynamic, young American Muslim leader is a Rhodes Scholar, a writer for NPR and the Director of the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core.

Monday, Dec. 11, 7:30 p.m. Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel 432 Scotland Road, South Orange, NJ 07079

Tuesday, Dec. 12,7:30 p.m.  Temple Sholom
385 Howland Avenue, River Edge, NJ 07661 (directions at http://www.tsholom.net )

 

[ REGISTER NOW ]  [ INSTRUCTORS BIOS ]

 

Undocumented Virgin
Encountering Our Lady of Guadalupe

Can the story of the Virgin Mary’s appearance to an Indian peasant in the mountains of Mexico 475 years ago promote cultural understanding in our own day? The Virgin of Guadalupe, also called "La Morenita," has been a controversial figure: a bridge between cultures (she appeared as a "mestiza," or person of mixed race, a symbol of the union of the indigenous Aztec and Spanish invader); a deep source of ethnic pride for Mexican-Americans; a remnant of imperialist oppression and the subjugation of women; "Goddess of the Americas," a manifestation of the Sacred Feminine; the new patron saint of the pro-life movement; a catalyst for boundary-breaking experiences, contradiction, and paradox. In this bilingual presentation and discussion on her feast day, we will explore the complexities of the Virgin’s increasing popularity among Christians of different cultures and denominations. What resonances are there between her archetypal and mythic elements and our own spiritual lives? In our present environment of cultural conflict, can this simple but extraordinary story give us hope for the future?

 

Janet Maulbeck and Lisa Green
Tuesday, Dec. 12, 7:30-9 p.m.
Freewill offering
Summit Center

[ REGISTER NOW ]  [ INSTRUCTORS BIOS ]