November 21 @ 7:30 pm – November 23 @ 3:00 pm
Facilitated by Natalie Thomas, John Lawson, and Greg Kennedy
The premise of this retreat is simple: people who love Earth need time together both to grieve and to celebrate. While ecological activism is more urgent now than ever, that’s not what this time will be explicitly about. Rather, it will focus intentionally on what we actually, currently feel instead of what we should ideally do. But touching into our grief and love is not an idle or escapist pastime. Whatever energies necessary for social, economic, political and creedal transformations will be found in the passion (which implies both suffering and motivation) alive in our earthling hearts.
As with its premise, the activities of this retreat will remain simple: quiet walking on the welcoming land (640 acres) of Ignatius Jesuit Centre, while reflecting on seasonal decline into the extreme modesty of winter; gentle artistic practices that summon latent emotion and creativity; meditations on who we are as hurting inhabitants of the Anthropocene; facilitated group conversations about our dreams and desires for a human presence more harmonious with all our planetary neighbours. Underlying all this is the hypothesis that shared grief and love deepen those who gather to mourn and celebrate. Deepened people have a fuller well from which to draw the water that sustains their commitment and action.
The weekend –
- Not a silent retreat
- There will be group activities and sharing
- Individual spiritual direction not available
