Thursday, February 4, 2016

Howard Thurman: Nine Days in Lent *online retreat *

Got a late start on Lent?
Interested in (re-)discovering the work of a wise guide?
Need spiritual support?
Want a short and more intense retreat rather than a longer retreat?
Longing for some prayerful and reflective time in your busy life?



Join us.



Monday, February 22 to Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Howard Thurman:
 

Nine Days in Lent

* An online nine-day retreat, with the help of the writings of Howard Thurman (1898-1981).

* Simple and accessible:
one short passage from Thurman's writings each day
one (related) spiritual exercise each day
one prayer each day
* 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 (any time, night or day) and a computer or tablet with internet access.

* Spiritual refreshment, nurture, and challenge for your Lenten journey.

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 and pertinent to people 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.
Note: We are also offering three other Lenten retreats this year, two long, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday. (Click here for more information on the featuring writings by Thomas Merton; Click here for the retreat on food and fasting, Desert Journey, Daily Bread), and one short, like this one. (Click here for a March 9-15 retreat with writings by Dorothee Soelle.)
All of the retreats have a structure and a schedule, but they are flexible enough to integrate into your daily life: you are the one who decides when and where to read and pray with the materials in the retreat (day or night, at home or elsewhere) and how to apply the invitations to practice.

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 for the one-time-only sign-in mechanism. After that, the blog will always recognize you.

Registration and payment

To register, write me, Jane Redmont, at readwithredmont@earthlink.net if you plan to pay by check, and I will acknowledge your registration and send you the mailing address. I will also notify you when I receive your check.

OR
 

If you want to pay by credit or debit card or with a PayPal account, simply register and pay in a single transaction using the PayPal button below. (You can use that button and its secure connection to pay with a credit or debit card even if you don't have a PayPal account.)

The PayPal payment will record your name and e-mail address and serve as your registration. You will receive an acknowledgment from me within 24 hours.

Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration.

 
If you are in a situation of financial stress, please write me and we can arrange for a discount, payment plan, or scholarship. (If you wish to help make more scholarships possible, just check the "benefactor" rate below.)


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 wish, 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.

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