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Meditations with Howard Thurman
Grieving and Grief: Three Weeks of Companionship
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| credit: Harvard Health Publishing HMS |
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| Käthe Kollwitz, Lament (1938-41) |
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| Jane Redmont |
Our purpose is not to make a fetish out of either food or fasting; they are part of a larger life of faith and practice, of the full life of the body, and of the Lenten journey. Fasting and food are a lens through which we can live the season of Lent, which itself is a path to attune us more closely to God, to God's world, to ourselves, and to our neighbors --and to prepare to celebrate the Resurrection.The retreat is a call to simplicity, mindfulness, and holiness.
Note: We are also offering three other Lenten retreats this year, one long, like this one, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday (click here for more information on that retreat, which features writings by Thomas Merton), and two short, for those who prefer to make a shorter (or later) commitment of daily practice nine days in a row. (Click here for a February 22-March 1 retreat with writings by Howard Thurman; 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.Each week of Desert Journey, Daily Bread will have a theme related both to the topic of the retreat and to one or more of the biblical lectionary readings for Sunday.
This is an ecumenical retreat in the Western Christian tradition, though there will be some references to Orthodox Christian Lenten practices. Though your friendly retreat leader, and Episcopal/Anglican Christian, worships in a tradition using the Revised Common Lectionary, she will also take into account the Roman Catholic Sunday lectionary. We also have much to learn from sister religious traditions (Judaism, Islam) which have practices of fasting and an active spirituality of food in many cultural settings.Each week of Desert Journey, Daily Bread retreat will feature:
* short readings for our reflection;There will be new material three times a week:
* spiritual exercises (which will involve the whole person, body, mind, heart, and spirit, as do all Lenten practices) especially those involving or related to eating, fasting, and food;
* prayers;
* images to contemplate; and
* reminders of the broader context of the Lenten journey in which we practice our praying, eating, fasting, simple living, almsgiving, and work toward the kin-dom of God. Participants can use all of these according to their own context and daily life.
Reflection on the theme for the week in conjunction with one or more of the Sunday lectionary readings.2. Tuesday morning:
The spirituality of food in Lent: wisdom, queries, and spiritual practices related to food and water.3. Thursday evening (in anticipation of Friday):
Friday is traditionally a penitential day and some Christian traditions focus their Lenten fasting in particular ways on Friday. Accordingly, our Thursday night reflection will prepare us for the greater simplicity of Fridays in Lent.
It will also offer us wisdom and support in whatever fasting practices we have chosen, whether they involve fasting from food or fasting in other ways (from television, from Twitter, from harmful speech, from impulse buying, from online arguments).An online retreat? How does that work?
Note: We are also offering another online Lenten retreat this year: Thomas Merton, Companion on the Way. (We offered a similar retreat last year in Lent.) Have a look here if this appeals to you more than a retreat on food and fasting.In the Desert Journey and Daily Bread retreat, we will journey through the Christian season of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, with gentle guidance, wisdom from biblical, historical, and contemporary sources, and opportunities for prayer and practice.
Note: This is an ecumenical retreat in the Western Christian tradition, though there will be some references to Orthodox Lenten practices. Though your friendly retreat leader worships in a tradition using the Revised Common Lectionary, she will also take into account the Roman Catholic Sunday lectionary.Each week will feature:
(or late Saturday by request -- some of our retreat participants come from a tradition in which Sunday Eucharist can also be celebrated on Saturday evening)Reflection on the theme for the week in conjunction with one or more of the Sunday lectionary readings.
For information on where to send your check, write Jane at readwithredmont@earthlink.net.We also accept PayPal.
This means that we can take a payment by credit card as well as from a PayPal account. Either way, this is a secure payment and we never see your card number. Use the button below if you wish to pay by credit card or PayPal:An online retreat? How does that work?
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| Judaean Desert - photo by David Solodar - free stock photo |
The Christian season of Lent (this year from March 5 to April 19) brings with it the traditional practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
This retreat day will include short presentations, prayer, silence, conversation, and practice –including a mindful, simple meal– and will offer a renewed vision of the traditional practice of fasting before the feast integrated with a spirituality of food.We will hear about traditional –and surprisingly vibrant– understandings of fasting and also reflect on consumption, consumerism, and fasting from other things than food.We will spend a good deal of the day reflecting, still in Christian perspective, on the spirituality and practice of food including mindful eating, health and sustainability, and food justice, and help each other move toward integrating some of this spirituality into our lives this Lent and in the longer term.
