Writing Our Way Toward Wholeness

A Retreat Exploring the Connections between Self, God and Others

Friday, November 30, 6:30-8:30pm and

Saturday, December 1, 9:30am-3:30pm

The poet Jane Hirschfield claims that writers who have found their true voice are those “whose ears turn at once inward and outward, both toward their own nature, thought patterns and rhythms, and toward those of the culture at large.” This retreat offers a pause for reflection – for turning our eyes and ears toward the holy in all things – as we enter the seasonal celebrations of light and darkness. Participants will be invited to encounter self, God and others through guided writing; prompts using visual images, physical objects and music; contemplative reading; and small group conversation. We’ll consider the practice of finding God or the holy in all things; the call to “love God and neighbor without distinction;” and the meaning of the Sanskrit salutation “Namaste,” in which the holy within me honors the holy within you. How can our human gift of language offer a bridge between self, others and the sacred? How might your own words, in a personal spiritual practice of writing or in writing for publication, turn your ears at once inward and outward to build this kind of bridge?

Facilitator: Writer-in-Residence Karen Hering leads programs and retreats engaging writing as a spiritual practice and a tool for social action. Her written reflections have appeared in Wisdom Ways catalogs and other journals and anthologies. Her forthcoming book, Writing to Wake the Soul, will be published in 2013.

For participants who desire a deeper immersion into a retreat experience, you may be interested in staying overnight at the Carondelet Center—to book a room call 651-696-2741.

WHEN:  Friday, November 30, 6:30-8:30pm and Saturday, December 1, 9:30am-3:30pm

COST: $65.00, includes lunch on Saturday

Registration is closed.