Summer 2023 Newsletter
The importance of detachment from things, the importance of poverty, is that we are supposed to be free from things that we might prefer to people. Wherever things have become more important than people, we are in trouble. That is the crux of the whole matter.
Thomas Merton
from our president….
Dear Friends,
As I sit down to write this newsletter article, I am reflecting on our retreat last week. Hearts on Fire just finished our 2023 retreat at the Ignatius House outside of Atlanta. For a long time, we held our retreats in the even years, 2014, 2016, and 2018. And then the pandemic came along and threw our retreats into a big pause. We didn’t have a retreat in 2020 and we had a virtual retreat in 2022. Last year, in 2022, we decided that it would be better to hold our retreats in odd years so this year we held an in-person retreat for the first time in five years.
As always being together in person gave us time to share conversations, reflect on what we were hearing from our speaker, and to tell our stories of what has happened in the last five years (and there is much to tell). The Fellowship of United Methodist Spiritual Directors and Retreat Leaders was organized in 2003, and a few of the founding members attended the retreat. It was fun to hear how it all began. As we came together for the retreat, we formed a close community and felt encouragement and support from each other and for each other.
I have been to retreats with several organizations and the Fellowship really knows how to hold retreats. Hearts on Fire allows several hours of sabbath time in the afternoon. This time allows people to have silence and reflect, to journal, to exercise, to meet with one or two others to discuss a topic, or just to nap. So many retreats I attend have a schedule all day long with maybe 30 minutes of free time. If we want to live a contemplative life, we need time and space in our day.
Our speaker was Rev. Dan Wolpert. Dan had been the speaker at the 2012 retreat and he was asked to return this year. The title for this retreat was spiritual direction and social transformation. Dan challenged us to think of spiritual direction as broader than one on one meetings. Every conversation we have and every group we speak to is an opportunity for spiritual direction, helping people getting on a path to be Christ’s disciples in our world. We live in a very individualistic culture and yet, we are called to think in terms of community and systems. Dan invited us to look at the roles we play in the systems we belong to. I will not even try to summarize all Dan said in three days, just know the content was rich and fulfilling.
The board met after the retreat and we affirmed again that Hearts on Fire should continue to serve as a place to be with others who are searching to live the contemplative life in the midst of our world. We say that we provide resources, connection, and support to the members of Hearts on Fire, and that is both our vision and our lived experience. Our offerings of Recalibration, Recalibration Live, newsletters quarterly, and retreats every two years provide a variety of thoughts, learnings, and tools for everyday use.
We invite members to send questions and comments on how to support you in your contemplative life and ministry in the world. As Dan said, we are together in using spiritual direction for the social changes in our world. We look forward to seeing you at our next Recalibration Live in September (via zoom), and our next retreat in 2025.
Linda Holbrook, HOF/FUMSDRL President
We can’t heal the world today, but we can begin with a voice of compassion, a heart of love, and an act of kindness.
Mary Davis
Upcoming Events
September 16
1:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern
Recalibration LIVE! with Heidi Miller
(on zoom)
Registration will open soon.
November 2023
Recalibration LIVE! with Kristen Vincent
January 2024
Rescheduled from May 2023 – Recalibration LIVE! with Jason Ellingson,
“Embodying Vulnerability as a Spiritual Practice”
Retreat 2025
Location, Dates and Leader information will be coming soon!
Resources
Listen to a short podcast with our president, discussing grief amid disaffiliations in the UMC. And click here for the related article.
Books recommended at our retreat:
The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement, by Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell
Creation’s Wisdom: Spiritual Practice and Climate Change, by Daniel Wolpert
Other books were discussed among the participants. Please share recommendations in our Facebook group.
Hearts On Fire Membership
Please consider becoming a paid member if you are not already.
This group is open to all interested in spiritual formation/spiritual direction/retreat leadership, regardless of denominational affiliation.
Enrichment/educational/networking/community zooms are being held at intervals throughout the year.
Additional resources including: daily prayer guide, book reviews, etc.
Click here for the membership page. There you will have the option to complete your member profile and pay online, or print a form and mail a check
Have an event to share? Wondering what others are reading, or what practices they are finding helpful? Looking for a learning opportunity? Have questions about navigating the uncertainties of our times? Seeking support and encouragement? Want to discuss the book reviewed above?
Click here to check out our Facebook page to engage in the conversation and make connections with others.
Click here to visit our website.
Ponderings….
Wisdom is
so kind and wise
that wherever you may look
you can learn something
about God.
Why
would not
the omnipresent
teach that
way?
~ Catherine of Siena
The spiritual life is the cure for narcissism.
~ Dan Wolpert
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, one finds it attached to the rest of the world.
~ John Muir
The prophetic tasks of the church are to tell the truth in a society that
lives in illusion, grieve in a society that practices denial,
and express hope in a society that lives in despair.
~ Walter Brueggemann