Wednesday, June 24, 2015

(Re)discovering Howard Thurman: a 9 day online retreat.

Longing for some prayerful and reflective time in your busy life?

Interested in (re-)discovering the work of a wise guide?

Join us!
Howard Thurman: 
An Online Novena Retreat
July 6-14, 2015


Howard Thurman (1899-1981), a philosopher, educator, theologian, and pastor, was an African American born in the segregated South during the Jim Crow era. Nourished by the rich traditions of the Black Church and ordained as a Baptist minister, he was deeply influenced by Quaker thought, especially the mysticism and nonviolence of Rufus Jones. He was also a pioneer in interreligious understanding. His writings --books, prayers, meditations, and sermons-- are rooted in Christianity yet accessible to and pertinent to whose wisdom path is "spiritual but not religious."

Howard Thurman exercised a deep influence on some of the  Civil Rights Movement's leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He traveled to India to meet Gandhi in the 1930s with the first group of African Americans to do so. Thurman served as the first Black Dean of Marsh Chapel, the university chapel at Boston University, and founded the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, a multicultural, multiracial, and interfaith congregation in San Francisco which is still in existence today.
Thurman's book Jesus and the Disinherited predated Black liberation theology by a generation.

What, when, where

* An online nine-day spiritual retreat, July 6-14, 2015, with the help of the writings of Howard Thurman (1899-1981).

* Simple and accessible:
one quote per day
one spiritual exercise per day
one prayer per day
* At home, in your daily life: read, meditate, and pray in a way that suits your schedule.

* You'll need just 20 minutes a day of focused time and a computer or tablet with internet access.

* Spiritual refreshment, nurture, and challenge.

"Novena retreat" ?

A novena is a sequence of nine successive days of prayer–usually prayers of either petition or thanksgiving. It is generally a public and popular spiritual practice and is found most often in the Roman Catholic religious tradition.

I am using the word “novena,” meaning nine days, as part of the description of this retreat to indicate that it is nine days long and involves daily meditation and prayer.


This novena retreat is ecumenical, accessible to Christians of any background or affiliation, and open to all. It is a new twist on the traditional novena.


An online retreat? How does that work?

* The retreat offers daily resources (the quotes, spiritual exercises, and prayers mentioned above, with some images as well to nourish you visually) online on a blog. More specifically, a closed blog.

* What's a closed blog? It's a blog like this, but it is not public: it is open only to those whom the blog owner-administrator (that's me) has signed in. In other words, it is not open to anybody wandering around the internet. It is not "searchable": random web surfers will not be able to view either the blog or our conversations in the comments.

* Once you register for the retreat by e-mailing me your intention to participate, I will send instructions for the one-time-only sign-in mechanism. After that, the blog will always recognize you.

Registration

To register, write me, Jane Redmont, stating your intention to take the retreat, and make your payment. 

Cost and payment

* $60 if you register by Tuesday, June 30.
* $75 if you register between Wednesday, July 1 and Monday, July 6, the day the retreat begins.
It's best to register before July 1, but you are still welcome if you sign up at the 11th hour!
Some discounts are available for those in financial hardship. Talk to me.

* Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration, by check or online electronic payment.

If you prefer to pay by check, I will send you the mailing address when you write me to register.

If you prefer to pay online by credit card or PayPal, please click below to pay via the Redmont Retreats secure PayPal account. (Note: you don't have to have your own PayPal account to use this secure online payment method.)


Retreat fee (choose one)



Privacy and community

During the retreat, you can remain private and just read the blog and use the quotes, spiritual exercises, and prayers on your own.

or
  
If you are more extroverted and communal or in need of companions on your retreat, you can  share your thoughts, experiences, and questions via the comments function on the blog and engage in conversation with other participants and with the retreat facilitator.


A full list of online retreats for summer 2015 is here.

"Hurry Up and Slow Down" -- offered twice this summer

We are offering the online retreat
 "Hurry Up and Slow Down"
twice this summer*
*or winter, if you are participating from the southern hemisphere

(c) Jane Redmont 2013

What, when, where

* A 6-week online retreat offered twice this summer:
Early summer: July 7 to August 17
Late summer: August 16 to September 26
* At home, in your daily life, 15 minutes a day

* Simple, accessible, gently focused on practice, with spiritual exercises

* Each week of the retreat has an anchoring theme:

mindfulness
breath 
place 
time 
community
earth

* Suitable for those who are religiously affiliated as well as for those who consider themselves spiritual, but not religious.

* If you think you don't have time for "Hurry Up and Slow Down," you're exactly the person who will benefit from it.
You are, of course, most welcome if you do have time!

See below for details.

 
Hurry Up and Slow Down is a spiritual retreat accompanying your daily life. It offers guidance, but it is not an academic class with a lot of reading. It is simple, accessible, and gently focused on practice -- the "how" of living every day mindfully and reverently, in a way that suits our own circumstances and takes into account how busy we are. Each week will have a theme or anchor. The weekly themes will be rich and basic:



* mindfulness * breath * place *
* time * community * earth *
 
These themes can be building blocks of spiritual practice, whether we are religiously affiliated or not.

Every week, with the theme of the week, will include four components, offered each Sunday and accompanying you throughout the week:


1. Awareness of the week's theme:
Taking stock, naming, asking and answering questions, doing a little writing (or drawing if we are more visually inclined).
2. Inspiration:
A short reading, an image, an insight, a bit of wisdom about the theme for us to ponder during the week.
3. Practice:
An exercise related to the week's theme, a concrete how-to that we can incorporate into our daily life throughout the week.
4. Tradition(s):
Some insights into the week's theme from the experience and wisdom of more than one religious tradition. We are not the first to grapple with the themes of our retreat and we are not alone.

Registration

"Hurry Up and Slow Down" is offered twice this summer! (or winter, if you are in the Southern Hemisphere)

The early summer retreat begins Tuesday, July 7.

The late summer retreat begins Sunday, August 16.

Registration will remain open till the first day of each retreat, but please note that cost is lower if you register early!

To register, please e-mail your intention to take the retreat to Jane Redmont.



Cost

$110 if you register by Monday, June 29 for the early summer retreat (HUASD I) or
by Monday, July 21 for the late summer retreat (HUASD II).

$125 if you register between Tuesday, June 30 and Tuesday, July 7 for the early summer retreat or from between Saturday, August 1 and Sunday, August 16 for the late summer retreat.

Some discounts are available for those in financial hardship. Talk to me.

Payment

 Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration, by check or online electronic payment.

If you prefer paying by check, I will send you the mailing address when you write me to register. 


If you prefer to pay online by credit card or PayPal, please click the appropriate button below (early summer or late summer)  to pay via the Redmont Retreats secure PayPal account.  (Note: you don't have to have your own PayPal account to use this secure online payment method.)

EARLY SUMMER HUASD I RETREAT (begins Tuesday, July 7, 2015)


Retreat fee (choose one)



LATE SUMMER HUASD II RETREAT (begins Sunday, August 16, 2015)


Retreat fee (choose one)



An online retreat? How does that work?

An online retreat offers retreat resources (themes, quotes, images, videos, guidelines for spiritual exercises, and more) online on a blog. More specifically, a closed blog.

What's a closed blog? It's a blog like this, but open only to those whom the blog owner-administrator (that's me) allows in. In other words, it is not open to anybody wandering around the internet. It is not searchable on the web. Random web surfers will not be able to view either the blog or our conversations in the comments. Once you register for the course, I will send instructions on the one-time sign-in mechanism. After that, the blog will always recognize you.  


Privacy and community

Do I have to talk to other people on the retreat? I'm a very private person.
 
and/or
 
Can I get some support here? I'm not sure I can stick to this all by myself.

The retreat will offer you a choice in finding your preferred balance between the solitary and the communal, between privacy and solidarity.

1) You can be private and just read the blog and use the exercises, practices, and quotes on your own.  

 
or
 
2) If you are more extroverted and communal or in need of companions on your retreat, you can  share your thoughts, experiences, and questions via the comments function on the blog and engage in conversation with other retreatants and with the retreat facilitator.

Either way, in your participation on the blog, silent or speaking, you must respond respectfully to others and protect the privacy of participants. It's fine for you to say to people outside the retreat "someone in a group I'm in mentioned [issue, insight, dilemma]" but not the name or identifying characteristics of the person or the story.


(c) Jane Redmont
This online retreat is meant to help you find time and opportunity
 to breathe and pause in your busy life,
but not to make you feel guilty when you struggle to do so.

Begin where you are, not where you "ought to be."

(c) Jane Redmont 2014

A full list of online retreats for summer 2015 is here.

Nine days with Dorothy Day: an online retreat

Longing for some prayerful and reflective time in your busy life?

Interested in radical Christian commitment, justice, and mercy?



Dorothy Day: 
An Online Novena Retreat 
July 20-28. 2015

Dorothy Day

Dorothy Day (1897-1980) is best known as the co-founder of the Catholic Worker, an anarchist, pacifist, lay Catholic Christian movement, and of the newspaper by the same name. Journalist, activist, mother, speaker, she was also a person of prayer whose Roman Catholic religious observance cannot be separated from her work for social and economic justice and peace and from what Christian tradition calls “the works of mercy.”

Click here for 30 interesting facts about Dorothy Day.



What, when, where



* An online nine-day spiritual retreat, July 20-28, 2015, with the help of the writings of Dorothy Day (Nov. 8, 1897 - Nov. 29, 1980).
Dorothy and daughter Tamar Theresa
* Simple and accessible:
one quote per day
one spiritual exercise per day
one prayer per day
* At home, in your daily life: read, meditate, and pray in a way that suits your schedule.

* You'll need 20 minutes a day of focused time and a computer or tablet with internet access.

* Spiritual refreshment, nurture, and challenge.

"Novena retreat" ?

A novena is a sequence of nine successive days of prayer–usually prayers of either petition or thanksgiving. It is generally a public and popular spiritual practice and is found most often in the Roman Catholic religious tradition.

I am using the word “novena,” meaning nine days, as part of the description of this retreat to indicate that it is nine days long and involves daily meditation and prayer.


Dorothy Day was a Roman Catholic, but the novena retreat is ecumenical and open to all. It is a new twist on the traditional novena.


An online retreat? How does that work?

* The retreat offers daily resources (the quotes, spiritual exercises, and prayers mentioned above, with some images as well to nourish you visually) online on a blog. More specifically, a closed blog.


* What's a closed blog? It's a blog like this, but it is not public: it is open only to those whom the blog owner-administrator (that's me) has signed in. In other words, it is not open to anybody wandering around the internet. It is not "searchable": random web surfers will not be able to view either the blog or our conversations in the comments.


* Once you register for the retreat, I will send instructions on the one-time sign-in mechanism. After that, the blog will always recognize you.

Registration

To register, write me, Jane Redmont, stating your intent to participate in the retreat. I will send you full registration instructions and  online sign-up information

Cost and payment

* $60 if you register by Sunday, July 12.
* $75 if you register between Monday, July 13 and  Monday, July 20, the day the retreat begins.

It's best to register before the 24th, but you still welcome if you arrive at the 11th hour!

Some discounts are available for those in financial hardship. Talk to me.

Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration, by check or online electronic payment.

If you prefer paying by check, I will send you the mailing address when you e-mail me to tell me you wish to register.


If you prefer to pay online by credit card or PayPal, please click below to pay via the Redmont Retreats secure PayPal account. (Note: you don't have to have your own PayPal account to use this secure online payment method.)


Retreat fee (choose one)




Privacy and community

During the retreat, you can remain private and just read the blog and use the quotes, spiritual exercises, and prayers on your own.

or
If you are more extroverted and communal or in need of companions on your retreat, you can  share your thoughts, experiences, and questions via the comments function on the blog and engage in conversation with other retreatants and with the retreat facilitator.


A full list of online retreats for summer 2015 is here.