As you all know, we recently gathered for a time of retreat and renewal at Christ the King Retreat Center in Buffalo, Minnesota. Our retreat speaker was Terry Hershey, and our topic was tending the tension between doing and being. Terry offered his gifts in such an authentic way through the art of story-telling. His power-packed insights were intricately woven into his story, gently guiding us to consider how God has shaped our own stories. He offered us insights- let us share around some implications, and then sent us off to be with whatever showed up for us. We were offered the opportunity to share in contemplative services around the fixed hour prayers, as we practiced returning to God four times a day for worship and prayer. We also enjoyed soul sharing in small listening circles every evening. Finally, we soaked up a whole day of luxurious silence within this sacred community.
For me, it was meaningful to see how the intentions for this time, planted in our retreat leadership team’s heart, flowed throughout our retreat, as God brought all the pieces of this experience together! Each of us were asked to bring soil from the sacred ground of our lives. This soil was poured together and placed at the center of our worship space. We were invited to remember God’s baptismal waters washing over us and making us new. Then- we were allowed to take the collective dirt- now all mixed together- back with us into our lives.
This was a memorable image of what our time together meant to us. We came to the retreat with our authentic selves, dirt and all, the Spirit of God washed over us, and we left strengthened by the Spirit’s presence and the nurturing of this community. As we now move back into ordinary time, we pray that the blessings of our time will reach into the larger community of Hearts on Fire, as we all consider what God is saying to us in the soil of our lives and . . .
How God might be calling us to venture forth, wholeheartedly, into new soils of ministry.
I’ll close with a prayer written by one of our retreatants, Judith Ann Dye.
“May God bless you in your peace, in your unease, in your soul-stirring, and in your venturing forth.”
Submitted by Rev. Dianne Lawhorn
Rev. Dianne Lawhorn is an Ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church, currently serving as the Minister of Spiritual Formation for the Lydia Group, LLC, which is a resource for spiritual wholeness offering formational teaching, retreat leadership, and spiritual direction. She served on this year’s National Gathering retreat leadership team as the registrar.