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Retreat Day 4


 




A blue, clear sky and no wind. Dew on the grass in the slate gray, early morning shadows. Still. Silent. Wide.

By now people are at home in the silence. It softens the crusted layers that time has hardened in their soul's depths. Bits break free and drift into consciousness. Tears come. And laughter. And immense courage, to bring to the light what is so feared, so reviled.

those who try to make their life secure, will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it.

I was privileged to witness death and resurrection today.

Comments

Elaine Dent said…
The silence does its work much like Jonah's descent into the darkness/the belly of the whale results in his transformation. (Richard Rohr's reflection for today, 'sign of Jonah' in "Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent.") Thanks for allowing us to be a prayerful witness to your retreat ministry.
Kate said…
Isn't it strange that we have to look for silence? Such a noisy, busy, people-filled world we have these days ...
Kelvin Wright said…
Yes, it is a bit odd, though it's hardly a modern problem. One of the books that has been most formative me is The Cloud of Unknowing, written in the 14th Century, one of whose basic themes is the difficulty of attaining inner silence. And all the great religious traditions have ways of stilling yourself, and some of these go back millennia. For most people, going to a place like this one and spending time without the noise which customarily surrounds them is a revelation. But one of the first things that gets revealed once the outer noise is removed is just how loud is the inner noise, between their ears.

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