Showing posts with label memory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memory. Show all posts

Friday, February 17, 2023

RE-MEMBERING OUR LIVES: A HEALING LENT - online retreat begins February 26

For other offerings from Redmont Retreats this winter and spring, 
including some shorter, later-beginning Lenten retreats 
and one course-retreat, click here.
 

RE-MEMBERING OUR LIVES: 

A HEALING LENT

Sunday, February 26 * 

to Saturday, April 1 

CANCELED DUE TO COVID.

But click above (on the word "here")

for the other retreats, 

which don't start till March 8 and March 23.


(c) Jane Redmont 2016
OUR LIVES THESE DAYS

Three years into the COVID pandemic...

"I'm still emerging and reorganizing and reinventing."

"The pandemic for me was profoundly disorienting and dislocating -- and yet also profoundly orienting and locating."

"Everyone was isolated. My question became, how do we connect with other people when we can't connect physically?"

"People are grieving their way out of that isolation."
 
"I'm not in the same body I was three years ago. How I am in community, what I see in community. How I see the world. All these things have changed."
 
"It's not just the COVID pandemic. There's been a racial reckoning. A sharper awareness of the climate crisis. And there's still an epidemic of gun violence."

"It was a kind of re-awakening for me."
 
"I want to go back to the way it was before."

"How can we find new ways of being church?"

"I am looking for what attends to my soul. I have explored more. My life has become hybrid in more than one way. Technologically, physically, and spiritually, in my religious affiliation. I am involved in multiple communities."

"We're never going back to the way it was before."
 
 "I've had to rearrange my life -- including my inner life and my spiritual practices."

"It's been like one long Lent."

Does any of this sound familiar?

join us for

RE-MEMBERING OUR LIVES:

A HEALING LENT

(c) Jane Redmont 2019

What and How

Body

Earth

Time*

Memory

Community


These are basic realities in our lives. Whether or not we observe Lent, we live in our bodies, on this earth, in time, with memory, and in some form, in community.

This online Lenten retreat --not just for those who observe the season of Lent-- will go through the season of Lent with five themes or lenses, one for each week. After a welcome and introduction to our time together, we will journey with one theme every week. We will stay together sixth week of Lent, Holy Week, when the realities of suffering, injustice, death, trauma and transformation are so present, and where the path still unseen leads to an entire season of Easter. Resurrection.

Every Sunday, especially for those who observe Lent, I will offer a (written) biblical reflection inspired by the Sunday readings in the Revised Common Lectionary. For everybody on the retreat, at the beginning of the week, we will also have a simple mindfulness exercise related to our theme of the week.

During the week, the retreat will invite us, on the retreat blog, to ponder the week's theme --in the form of a journal, through a creative activity,  in gazing at an image or two or listening to a piece of music, in silent meditation, in prayer; there will be options from which you can choose. 
 
Every week, we will notice the present, but also re-member, becoming more deeply aware of how the five realities of body, earth, time (especially Sabbath), memory, and community have changed --or not-- in our lives. We will recall and see connections, and make connections we may not have before. Some of us will see that we are reweaving the frayed parts of our lives, but often with a new thread, a new color, a new piece of cloth --or, if you prefer another metaphor, repairing or sanding or shaping or rebuilding something made of wood or stone or clay.
 
Where and how
 
Online (resources, conversation) 
 and in your daily life (anywhere - home, work, outdoors, indoors).

Online:
 
 1)  On the retreat blog. All retreat materials (readings, meditations, spiritual exercises or invitations to practice, music, visual art) will be posted on the retreat blog as the retreat proceeds. At least three times a week, there will be words of wisdom, music, images, and spiritual exercises for you. 
 
There is a comments space on every post of the blog for you --if you wish-- to share reactions to the offerings of the week or experiences you have had with the theme of the week in your own life

The initial, one-time-only sign-on to the retreat blog is easy.* Once you have signed up a first time, the retreat blog will recognize you and you can check in any time. Only retreatants with have access to the blog, which is private and not searchable on the internet.
 
2) In live Zoom conversations. This retreat also offers a weekly 60-90 minute opportunity to talk with other retreat participants and with me (Jane, your retreat facilitator) about your experience with the week's theme and with the resources and spiritual practices of each week in Lent.  Your registration on PayPal includes options from which you can choose: A morning session, an evening session (both on weekdays), and, for any who really cannot make it on a weekday, a possible Sunday session.
    
For both of these online experiences, you will need a computer or tablet and a working internet connection. The bigger the screen, the better: while technically speaking you can view the retreat blog and use Zoom on your smartphone, I don't recommend it.
 
* Need technical help? Neither the retreat blog nor Zoom is complicated once you've done it once, and even the first time it's not hard. I send out detailed directions on how to sign on to the retreat blog and a link to hop onto Zoom. But if you need extra help and support, I'll be glad to walk you through your first time or to trouble-shoot with you should you run into a snag.
 
In daily life:

Your life, your location, your schedule: You can read --and gaze at, and listen to-- the retreat materials at any time of day or night, and you can pray and practice according to your schedule and lifestyle. 
 
It will be good for you to devote a little time every day to the retreat, but three days a week can also work. When and where you practice and pray is up to you. Experiment and see what works. The Zoom conversations will also provide support and ideas. Listen to others And don't hesitate to ask for help.
 
Registration and Cost
 
Registration and payment take place via PayPal secure link (below), which takes credit and debit cards in addition to PayPal.

--You don't have to have your own PayPal account to use this online payment method.
--If you prefer making a donation via Venmo, please write me.
--A discount rate is available for those in financial hardship.
--Likewise, the benefactor rate, for those who have the means, helps offset costs and makes scholarship aid possible.
--If even the discount fee is too high for you, please write me and ask about the possibility of a scholarship.
--Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration.
 
 
 
Please pick one
Pick your weekly Zoom time
*IF* I offered a weekend Zoom, which could you attend?



Questions?
 
 
 
For other offerings from Redmont Retreats
 this winter and spring, 
including some shorter Lenten retreats
and one course-retreat,
click here.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Remembering Forward: The Time of Advent (2017)

Remembering Forward:
The Time of Advent

an online retreat 

December 3 - 24, 2017

See below the photo
for information and registration.


Remembering Forward is an online spiritual retreat in the Christian tradition. It will accompany your daily life during the season of Advent, which prepares the way for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus Christ.

An online retreat enables you to participate at home or any other place where you have a computer or tablet with internet access. You check in at the time of day or night that works for you. You can read, listen, gaze, meditate, and pray in a way that suits your schedule.

Twenty minutes a day is a nice rhythm, but even ten minutes can be helpful if you check in with any regularity. You can check in on your online retreat less often, or more often, than once a day, and for as long or short a time as you wish. It's up to you. The resources for the retreat will be waiting for you every day on the retreat site. (More information on the technical aspect of the retreat below.)


Remembering forward?

What is this, a time warp?

In a way, yes.

Advent is a season that challenges and plays with our sense of time.

It is a season turned toward the future:
~ the near future, in our waiting for the celebration of the birth of Jesus;
~ the hovering, known-and-unknown future, frightening or reassuring,
~ the long-term future, with the reminder that the Advent season takes the long view.
~ Advent heightens our sense of yearning.
~ With Advent comes the renewal of imagination and vision.
The season of Advent is also a time of remembrance:
~ For some this season and its memories bring joy. For others, this is a sad and difficult time.
~ Sometimes the season holds both delight and sorrow, contentment and emptiness.
~ Advent is a season of holy memory, in which we journey with people and stories from the past that are part of our living tradition and give us strength.
~ Advent is a time for returning to treasured traditions. It can also be a time for re-examining their place in our lives -- or for embroidering on old traditions.
Advent is full of apparent contradictions. 
It is the Slowdown Season and the Better-Wake-Up Season.

Advent 2017

This year, because of the location of the four Sundays before Christmas on the December calendar, we have the shortest possible Advent. (Last year we had the longest possible Advent.) The 4th Sunday of Advent, which we celebrate the morning of Sunday, December 24, is also Christmas Eve!

So we have a little less time than usual this year to pay attention to the season of Advent: exactly three weeks.

Let's spend this attentive time in community, on this retreat, together. Let it be a spacious time in an often pressured and busy season.


An online retreat? How does that work?

The retreat offers daily resources 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, Jane, the retreat facilitator) has signed in.

In other words, the retreat blog 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. Conversations between and among retreatants remain private.



~ "Do I have to talk to other people on this retreat? I'm a very private person."
~ "Can I get some support here? I want some company."


Answer to both questions:

Jane's online retreats offer you a choice; it is up to you to find your preferred balance between the solitary and the communal, between privacy and solidarity.
You can and may remain private and just read the blog and use the practices and meditations on your own. Nobody will force you to speak or disclose who you are. Or you can and may take part in conversation with other retreatants and with the retreat facilitator. Conversation during the retreat takes place in writing, via the comments on the blog posts of the retreat blog. Please be prepared to observe confidentiality and kindness and to respect other participants' diverse experiences and outlooks.
Use the retreat according to your personality and your circumstances. The online retreat is like a room in which you are welcome to sit in the company of others and to be either visible or invisible.

What will I find on this retreat?

Every Sunday:

A meditation on one or more of the Scripture readings from the Revised Common Lectionary or the Catholic Lectionary, with reference to our retreat's theme.
Every Monday:
An invitation to a simple "seasonal slow-down" exercise in your daily life.
Midweek:
An invitation to reflect on and pray with some questions on "remembering forward" in Advent.
Every day:
Checking in daily will be like opening an Advent calendar. You will find each day a little gift: a piece of music or visual art, a commemoration of a saint's day, a bit of holy wisdom, or a remembrance or vision embodying Advent hope.
You can mix and match these daily and weekly observances.

Registration and payment

Registration is easy via secure PayPal link, which takes credit and debit cards too: you don't have to have your own PayPal account to use this online payment method.

(If you prefer paying by check, please e-mail me.)


The "Early Bird" rate applies if you register and pay any time before midnight on Thursday, November 30, whatever your time zone.

The regular rate applies from December 1 on.

If you are in a situation of financial stress, please write me and we can arrange for a discount, a payment plan, or scholarship. Or you can just check and pay the "hardship" rate below.

The "benefactor" rate below helps to offset costs and makes scholarship aid possible.

Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration.


Retreat fees (choose one)




Retreat designer and facilitator:
Jane Redmont is a retreat leader and spiritual director, theologian and pastoral worker, writer and writing coach. An Episcopal Christian, she was also formed in the Catholic tradition and has Jewish and Unitarian Universalist family roots. She has worked in campus, urban, and parish ministries, taught undergraduates, seminarians, and graduate students, and been involved in work for justice and in ecumenical and interreligious relations all her life. She serves as a Congregational Consultant for the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and is the author of two books including When in Doubt, Sing: Prayer in Daily Life.
Questions? Concerns? Write me (Jane) here.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Companions in Justice, Companions in Prayer: A Month of Memory -- November Online Retreat

In Christian traditions, November is sometimes called the month of memory. It begins with the feast of All Saints on November 1, followed immediately by the feast of All Souls or All the Faithful Departed (November 2 goes by different names depending on the tradition).

"Saints" are not just formally recognized or canonized saints, though various traditions in Eastern and Western Christianity do have ways of formally recognizing holy women and holy men and of commemorating them. "Saints" is also the name the early Christians used for themselves and for those who had preceded them in life and death. Saints are our grandmothers and persons we have met on the street, people whom we know only by name and people we know well, companions in faith and struggle, role models and sources of wisdom.

One of the themes in my life's work, including in these retreats, has been the relationship between spirituality and social justice, or what the founding prior of Taizé, Brother Roger, called "struggle and contemplation." Dorothee Soelle, a favorite theologian of mine, spoke of "mysticism and resistance."  

I have found that there is among many people a hunger for deepening this connection between contemplation and justice, so I have designed an online retreat for the "month of memory" that focuses on holy women and men in whom this connection was and is alive. They can become faithful companions to us on our journey as we learn from and about their lives and their writings.



What, when, where

* A month-long online retreat, November 1-30.

* Read, meditate, and pray in a way that suits your schedule and lifestyle.

* You'll need 15 minutes of focused time every couple of days.

 * Reflect on the life and writings of companions in justice and prayer, pray with them, learn from them.

* We will learn about and from three companions a week through

* a brief passage from each companion's writings (not always from a book; our sources are also journals, letters, speeches, poetry, sermons...);
* some biographical information;
* a spiritual exercise for you to practice or a prayer or meditation related to the companion of the day.
* Our companions will be mostly from this past century, many deceased, some still alive. They will include (among others) Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, William Stringfellow, Pauli Murray, Oscar Romero, Desmond Tutu, Bayard Rustin, Clarence Jordan, Cesar Chavez, Maria Skobstova, and Mercy Amba Oduyoye



Cost

* $75 if you register (and mail your check) by Wednesday, October 16.
You may also take advantage of this discount (even if you register after Oct. 16) if you are a recently furloughed government worker, if you are unemployed, or if you are a student or retiree on limited resources.
* $90 if you register from Thursday, October 17 on. (You may join the retreat any time during the first ten days of November.)

* Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration.

 
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.

* Here is a recent article about online retreats in which I am quoted.



Registration

To register, write me, Jane Redmont, at readwithredmont@earthlink.net. I will send you full registration instructions with payment address and online sign-up information. (Both of these are simple.)

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.


Initially posted September 12. 
Edited and reposted October 21 to move the announcement toward the top of the blog.

Note: I am also running a nine-day retreat (with daily check-in) focused on the life and wisdom of Dorothy Day, beginning October 31 and ending November 8: Dorothy Day: A Novena Retreat. Interested? Have a look here. Also note that there is a "package deal" if you wish to take both retreats.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Contemplation and Justice in the Season of Saints

Do you have (or want to develop) a commitment to integrate
contemplative practice and prayer
with
 active concern for justice and peace?

Two online retreats can support you on this path.

They begin at the end of this month. 
Both are in the Christian tradition
One is nine days long and the other lasts for one month.  

Read on to see which one may be best for your rhythm of life. 
You are, of course, welcome to participate in both retreats.

(1) A Novena Retreat with Dorothy Day



       * October 31-November 8
                                             A daily 15-minute commitment.

        * Each day for 9 consecutive days:

              one quote by Dorothy Day
              one related spiritual exercise
              one prayer

       * $45  if you register (and mail your check) by Wednesday, October 16.

        * $55  if you register between Thursday, October 17 and Thursday, October 31.

       * Registration is open now. To register, write readwithredmont@earthlink.net.

       * More details about this retreat here.

You are welcome to take both retreats, in which case you are also welcome to a "package deal" of $135 if you register from Oct. 17, $110 if you register by Wed. Oct. 16 or are economically strained. 

(2) Companions in Justice, Companions in Prayer: 
              A Month of Memory

      * November 1-30
                                          15 minutes** three times a week for a month.
                                                                                                         ** or more, if you wish!

       * Reflect on the life and writings of companions in justice and prayer, pray with them on your own time, in your own context.

       * Our companions will be mostly from this past century, some still alive, and include (among others)  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, Clarence Jordan, Thomas Merton, William Stringfellow, Pauli Murray, Oscar Romero, Desmond Tutu, Bayard Rustin, Cesar Chavez, and Mercy Amba Oduyoye. 



 

       * $75  if you register (and mail your check) by Wednesday, October 16.

       * $90  if you register between Thursday, October 17 and Monday, November 4.

      * More details about this retreat here.  

      *Registration is open now. To register, write readwithredmont@earthlink.net.

While these two retreats may appeal to different audiences 
because of their difference in structure and schedule,  
you are welcome to take both of them
If you do, I will be happy to offer a "package deal" of 
$110 if you register by Wednesday, October 16
or are financially strained
or $135 if you register from October 17 on.


Please note that I will offer an Advent retreat 

December 1-24

 Magnificat! Prayer and Prophecy in Advent

Details forthcoming in late October. 
Registration will open the first week in November.