The Winter “Stillness” retreat last weekend felt like pressing pause to me. Time to listen and be listened to by others; time for silence in the snowy forest; time for personal reflection. My favorite moment of the retreat was during our time of personal reflection – after eating our lunches and warming up from the walk, I noticed everyone settling in to their own form of rest and reflection – napping, reading, using the art supplies, looking out the window, writing…you get the idea. We shared the silence in a gracious way. I thought…this is why we offer these retreats!

If you need some rest/renewal/reflection in your life – to reconnect with yourself, God, and others, we still have a few spots left on February 24th. Visit this page to get more information and to register. *Snow not guaranteed! 🙂

Please enjoy this poem written by one of our retreat participants, Doug Schulz, in response to the silent walk.

Walking Without Talking Through Woods

I hold my silence in my mouth. In the woods, the walk

of contemplation through snow is a boot-squeaking,

drift-thumping, softly-slowly drumming journey. Stillness

incomplete. Still, on silent-as-possible feet, tongue hushed,

I sneak from the noise of voices, chatter, stuff of bold

claims and exclamatory choices, and travel to peace.

 

In the quiet woods, the fearless flakes come falling, cold,

whispering secrets to warm my soul, when I listen.

In calm woods, where east keeps kissing west, and north

sings songs to south, I hold my silence long. In my mouth.

 

DDS

February 10, 2018