Keeping a Mary Heart in a Martha World

Last weekend I attended a women's Lenten retreat called "Keeping a Mary Heart in a Martha World." The retreat was held at a Catholic retreat center and the other women were all Catholic. The retreat was also a silent one - except for the "sessions" (small group discussions), a couple of the meals, and Saturday evening mass.

And the retreat was exactly what I needed.

Our Sunday School class is talking about BALANCE this spring and the retreat touched on a lot of the same topics in a very supportive, spiritually enriching environment.

I feel refreshed and rejuvenated.

I was thrilled to learn that the retreat center is rarely used for retreats; it's actually a place where people of any faith can go for peace and reflection. Meaning that (for a suggested donation of $35/night) I can go back, any time, on my own, to recharge.

Vision of Peace Hermitages: "Vision of Peace Ministries exists to offer hospitality in a place where people of any faith, seeking solitude in their lives, can find a quiet peacefulness and an atmosphere conducive to private prayer and reflection."

A home sits on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Standing on the back deck, you don't realize that the gentle, grass-covered lumps just before the cliff's edge are the roofs of hermitages, each with a stunning view of the river. Inside each hermitage is a single bed, a single desk, a single rocking chair, a kitchenette, and a bathroom. The accommodations are simple, rustic, and adequate. Walking along the railroad tracks, down by the river, through the woods, or along the half-mile gravel path to the main road, there's no pressure to "meet and greet." There's no concern over what to say to a stranger or a friend. In a place of silence, a small smile of acknowledgment is all that's needed.

Inside the main house lives a year-round caretaker. (He's a former monk, very friendly.) There's also a library and chapel open to guests staying in one of the nine single-occupancy hermitages.

Have you ever been to a place like this? Do you have one near where you live?  Would you go to a retreat center sponsored by a faith tradition different from your own?

Vision Casting: Catching the Spirit

This took place at the Living Waters Retreat center in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. I went there for a couple of quiet days to be with God and ask Him for a vision of our church.

As I looked out of my window, I saw four tall elm trees. Everything was quiet and still. It was a prayerful moment of peace and tranquility, and yet I felt there was something mysterious in the air.

As I looked at the trees, I marveled at how the slender trunks had taken years to branch out into smaller limbs, twigs, and leaves. I thought about Christ’s Church being the largest tree and all the denominations becoming strong branches on the new limbs.

Where was Erin on this great tree? In 2000 years of Christianity and throughout the numerous denominations, and even amongst billions of Christians, what part did we represent of the great tree?

As I contemplated our size and history, I realized that we were just a mere leaf toward the top of the tree. Amongst myriads of leaves, we were just like any other – a tiny leaf, on a small twig, connected to a big branch, attached to a large limb, growing out of a giant trunk. We were the smallest of the small – insignificant, unimportant, and ineffectual.

In the stillness of the moment, I felt stung in realizing that we had only made such a tiny contribution to the Great tree of Faith. It was humiliating and hurtful, shocking and surprising. I came to the retreat center looking for an almighty vision, and all that I was given was a divine reality check.

And then God showed me something totally unexpected. Everything was quiet and somber. As I looked at the little leaf that I had chosen as Erin, it slowly began to flutter. Nothing else was happening to the whole tree. Somehow that little, unimportant and insignificant leaf was catching the wind. It seemed as though it was dancing.

Soon other little leaves around it began to flutter and dance. They were also catching the wind and, for a while, they all fluttered alone as a group. And then, all over the tree, other tiny leaves began to catch the wind, and they also fluttered and danced.

The twig that was Erin began to sway ever so slightly, and then it began to swing to the music of the wind. Very soon other twigs were swaying and then the bigger branches joined the dance. The wind was beginning to pick up and the tree was full of its energy. Leaves were fluttering swiftly, twigs and branches were swinging, boughs and limbs were swaying rhythmically in the breeze.

As the dance continued, the sound of the wind picked up and it choreographed the whole tree. I then wondered when the great trunk of the tree would move. I didn’t see it, but I heard it. Throughout this great orchestration of the wind and leaves, I suddenly heard the deep moaning sounds of the trunk creaking in the wind. The whole tree was alive to the movement of the air. I was watching a great symphony that began with the fluttering solo of a little leaf called Erin.

That’s when God struck me with the vision. Erin is just a little church, the tiniest of leaves on this great tree of the Christian faith. Our role is not to be great or grandiose, important or significant. Our purpose is simply to await the coming of the Holy Spirit, to catch its wind, to flutter and dance as the Spirit moves us, so that other little leaves around us may be encouraged and influenced to do the same.

We are here at Erin to catch the wind of the Holy Spirit. The earth may never know who we are or that we exist, but God knows and our role is to delightfully dance before Him. If we wait upon the Lord and catch the Spirit, then we will have fulfilled our purpose. When the Spirit comes, those little leaves that are ready will dance joyfully and flutter faithfully, pleasing God and delightfully serving Christ.

Erin, God is preparing us to catch the Wind? Are we ready to begin the dance?