Recap: Lent Mini Retreat
Nothing is what you ever expect…
As we planned for the Lent Mini Retreat while it was still cold out, noting the date and considering what it could be like, we envisioned welcoming you with a cup of warm tea into a cozy space that would feel like a womb where transformation of new experiences would occur. The weather had it’s own ideas of what the day would be like…
As the temperature soared to 85℉— the warmest day we’ve seen so far this year— we pivoted. Instead of welcoming the brave women who arrived with warming tea, we offered them a refreshing glass of lemonade tinting a stunning shade of purple from the addition of butterfly pea flower tea. As we poured the indigo tea into the yellow lemonade, the color change was instant and captivating to watch. Perhaps, it was foreshadowing of our time together: the indigo blue of our arrival, the lemonade of the practices laid out to engage with, and the mingling of the two embodying an experience that will change you from this moment forward.
While the theme of the day was heavy, we began with the usual lightness of community connection, of our values at Wild Sanctuary Retreats. Everyone greeted someone they didn’t know and shared their name, and their favourite spring tree or flower. Chatter lifted into the air as exclamations of daffodils and buttercups cherry blossoms filled room. Smiles, laughter, and curiosity laid the foundation of comfortability and safety for the mini retreat that was about to unfold.
We shared about Stations of the Cross to introduced those new and familiar to the practice we were engaging with, then we settled in with our welcoming prayer. This prayer, written by us and adjusted slightly for each retreat, reminds us of something key; we all show up with our unique experiences and beliefs and commit to spiritual care, engaging in practices to draw us deeper to God on our walk of faith following Christ. Acknowledging both our differences, and our shared belovedness, becomes a prayer that doesn’t shy away from the mystery of our faith, but invites us holy community within it.
This prayer shifts us into the contemplative posture of the day and welcomed us to our first practice— Visio Divina. Known as Divine or Holy Seeing, Visio Divina uses God’s creation to spur us towards prayer and worship. In traditional church settings, this also includes artwork, the cross, statues, and icons, to name a few. Always captivated by the artwork of Kelly Latimore, we leaned into her iconography for an abbreviated Stations of the Cross experience. As the women huddled around the displayed icon, Aelea invited the women into the traditional movements of the practice; gazing with openness, noticing what stirs, and responding in prayer. With no rush to hurry through the practice, the women had time to sit with each icon and what it brought up. Beginning with a piece titled ‘Jesus in the Wilderness’, then moving to ‘The Crucifixion’, then ending with ‘Mama’, it was a heartfelt experience. As we closed together for the final traditional movement, each women sat in contemplation— nothing left to do or say, just resting held in love by God.
A transition reading of Gethsemane by Mary Oliver reminded us that through the practice of Visio Divina, and being present through the experience even when moments may have felt challenging, we were keeping vigil with Jesus. When he asked the disciples in the garden to wait with him, we had the opportunity here and now to do just that— to not look away, but to hold gaze and be with Jesus.
The restorative practice began with a little intuitive movement. After sitting and holding gaze, this movement felt welcome to the bodies of those who attended, and helped prepare them for the 14-station journey to the cross they were about to engage with. As Kimee lovingly and gently guided each women into the postures, she read from the Stations of the Cross prayer guide by Ruth Haley Barton and The Transforming Center. Each station an invitation of either scripture or scenario to engage with, the stations invited us to be with Jesus— to be there with him on the journey, to be honest about the often hard questions we have about His life and our own, to ask for forgiveness when we’ve not followed The Way of Jesus, and to sit with even the uncomfortable moments we would often rather turn from. A call and response was offered throughout the stations where Kimee would call out “Lord, in your mercy,” while those holding vigil would response “hear our prayer.”.
This journey to the cross is one that is challenging and often makes us wonder— the Stations of the Cross speaks to both that curiosity of the mystery of the cross, but mostly guides us to presence. As the shapes moved from reflective to ending on open and vulnerable as Jesus was most vulnerable on the cross, a chill ran through the air as the weight of the day begin to feel real.
Instead of closing as we traditionally do with group sharing, we held the silence of the experience. It is not Easter yet, we do not celebrate, but we sit in the tension of Jesus’s death. No words feel weighty enough, none accurate enough, none needed. The final closing prayer said it all:
Bringing prayer hands to heart- We pause to remember, as difficult and mysterious as the death of Jesus is, God’s Loving Presence is with us. Bringing prayer hands to mouth- We pause to remember, Jesus is our Teacher on the Way. He shows how to endure and embrace suffering, always with the promise of resurrection. Bringing prayer hands to the forehead- We pause to remember, the Holy Spirit invites us then and now to share in friendship with Jesus. May we be the loving & friendly hands and feet of Christ to all of Creation.
As the women slowly began to move again, some wiped tears, some made notes, and all moved with care and compassion for self. Water bottles were filled with lemonade to take home, hugs were given, connection was made, and the women transitioned back into the world, knowing they will never experience holy week the same way again.
Each time we offer a retreat we take care to pause and acknowledge both the joy and weight of our own call as we follow The Way of Jesus— it is a privilege to curate retreats with love and care, to form practices together in ways that we feel with deepen your relationship with God, and to be ones you trust with your full selves. Thank you, to everyone who allows us the gift of being your guides. It is a gift and responsibility we hold with care and prayer.
If you’d like to join us for our next retreat, we are celebrating Easter with a half-day retreat called Women As Witness.
