Rolling Ridge Retreat & Conference Center Programs
“The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me.
My eye and God’s eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.”
Meister Eckhart
My eye and God’s eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.”
Meister Eckhart
We are told to love our neighbor as our self. So, as we strive to see the holy presence in others, it is important that we first start with our self as Meister Eckhart told us in this wonderful quote.
In this 10-week ONLINE series, I will guide you on a transformational journey to excavate the holy within. We’ll explore the song of the soul, your unique note, seeded at birth and how it may yearn to answer a new call from the Holy. We’ll identify your superpowers and your greatest challenges, disguised as dragons, and discover how they serve one another. We’ll look to the future and see where your North Star wants to guide you and, as a result, what the dawn of your awakening may bring. Finally, we’ll excavate your inner treasure and see how it may be offered as a gift in service to others.
Each 90-minute session will engage Questions for Reflection given ahead, offer a guided inner journey designed to explore the week’s theme, and conclude with the sharing of your sacred journeys.
Come. Walk through the doorway to the sacred and excavate the holy.
ONLINE Monday evenings, January 26 to March 30 from 6:30-8:00 pm eastern
Schedule for 10 Week Class:
Week 1 (Jan 26): Week 1: Welcome & Overview
Part 1
Week 2 (Feb 2): The Song of My Soul
Week 3 (Feb 9): The Call of the Holy
Part 2
Week 4 (Feb 16): My Super Power
Week 5 (Feb 23): My Dragon
Part 3
Week 6 (Mar 2): My North Star
Week 7 (Mar 9): My Dawn
Part 4
Week 8 (Mar 16): My Treasure
Week 9 (Mar 23): My Gift
Week 10 (Mar 30): Summary & Final Sharing
Cost for the series: $120 for 10 ONLINE 90-minute sessions (total of 15 hours).
In this 10-week ONLINE series, I will guide you on a transformational journey to excavate the holy within. We’ll explore the song of the soul, your unique note, seeded at birth and how it may yearn to answer a new call from the Holy. We’ll identify your superpowers and your greatest challenges, disguised as dragons, and discover how they serve one another. We’ll look to the future and see where your North Star wants to guide you and, as a result, what the dawn of your awakening may bring. Finally, we’ll excavate your inner treasure and see how it may be offered as a gift in service to others.
Each 90-minute session will engage Questions for Reflection given ahead, offer a guided inner journey designed to explore the week’s theme, and conclude with the sharing of your sacred journeys.
Come. Walk through the doorway to the sacred and excavate the holy.
ONLINE Monday evenings, January 26 to March 30 from 6:30-8:00 pm eastern
Schedule for 10 Week Class:
Week 1 (Jan 26): Week 1: Welcome & Overview
Part 1
Week 2 (Feb 2): The Song of My Soul
Week 3 (Feb 9): The Call of the Holy
Part 2
Week 4 (Feb 16): My Super Power
Week 5 (Feb 23): My Dragon
Part 3
Week 6 (Mar 2): My North Star
Week 7 (Mar 9): My Dawn
Part 4
Week 8 (Mar 16): My Treasure
Week 9 (Mar 23): My Gift
Week 10 (Mar 30): Summary & Final Sharing
Cost for the series: $120 for 10 ONLINE 90-minute sessions (total of 15 hours).
Previous Rolling Ridge Programs
I'd be happy to offer any of the programs below in a format
that would best serve your community!
Stories from Your Inner Muse ~ Day Apart
Tuesday, September 9, 2025: 9:30 am to 3:30 pm.
We all have a treasure trove of stories within us. I think of them as metaphorical snapshots, laying tucked away, silent, something like the old photographs you might find in your grandmother’s cedar chest. They may be faded, wrinkled. The edges may be curled, bent or frayed. But each holds a memory and is a gateway into a story in time.
In this Day-Apart, you’ll be guided on an inner journey to contact your inner muse. Your muse will help you explore some of those snapshots, stories, waiting and ready to be seen and known in the light of a new day. Using guided meditations, journaling prompts and exercises, you’ll be invited to excavate the treasure each story holds. You may choose to express this treasure in impromptu writing, a poem, artwork, or perhaps even through a song or movement should you be so inclined. Let your inner muse be your guide!
As we consider this year's theme at Rolling Ridge, one of the ways of "Seeing Holy Presence" is by embracing the stories in us and opening ourselves to the Divine possibility that our inner muse can show us the Holy within ourselves.
Cost: $89 includes the program with pastries and lunch
Tuesday, September 9, 2025: 9:30 am to 3:30 pm.
We all have a treasure trove of stories within us. I think of them as metaphorical snapshots, laying tucked away, silent, something like the old photographs you might find in your grandmother’s cedar chest. They may be faded, wrinkled. The edges may be curled, bent or frayed. But each holds a memory and is a gateway into a story in time.
In this Day-Apart, you’ll be guided on an inner journey to contact your inner muse. Your muse will help you explore some of those snapshots, stories, waiting and ready to be seen and known in the light of a new day. Using guided meditations, journaling prompts and exercises, you’ll be invited to excavate the treasure each story holds. You may choose to express this treasure in impromptu writing, a poem, artwork, or perhaps even through a song or movement should you be so inclined. Let your inner muse be your guide!
As we consider this year's theme at Rolling Ridge, one of the ways of "Seeing Holy Presence" is by embracing the stories in us and opening ourselves to the Divine possibility that our inner muse can show us the Holy within ourselves.
Cost: $89 includes the program with pastries and lunch
Stories from Your Inner Muse ~ Online
10 Weeks: Tuesdays, September 16th – November 18th, 6:00 – 7:30 pm
As mentioned above, we all have a treasure trove of stories within us. I think of them as metaphorical snapshots, laying tucked away and silent, something like the old photographs you might find in your grandmother’s cedar chest. They may be faded, wrinkled. The edges may be curled, bent or frayed. But each holds a memory and is a gateway into a story in time.
In this 10-week class, you’ll be guided each week on an inner journey to contact your inner muse. Your muse will help you explore a snapshot, story, waiting and ready to be seen and known in the light of a new day.
These snapshots will emerge from ubiquitous experiences we all share such as times of simple joy, times when courage was needed to overcome fear, a time of surprise - didn’t see that coming - to moments of awe beyond understanding. (See complete list below in the schedule.) Using guided meditations, journaling prompts and exercises, you’ll be invited to excavate the treasure each story holds. You may choose to express this treasure in impromptu writing, a poem, artwork, or perhaps even through a song or movement should you be so inclined. Let your inner muse be your guide!
Schedule for 10 Week Class:
Week 1: Welcome & Overview
Week 2: A Simple Joy
Week 3: The Fork in the Road
Week 4: Forgiveness Whispers
Week 5: The Surprise
Week 6: A Gift that Transformed
Week 7: When Courage Overcame Fear
Week 8: The Moment of Realization
Week 9: Awe Beyond Understanding
Week 10: Final Summary & Sharing
10 Weeks: Tuesdays, September 16th – November 18th, 6:00 – 7:30 pm
As mentioned above, we all have a treasure trove of stories within us. I think of them as metaphorical snapshots, laying tucked away and silent, something like the old photographs you might find in your grandmother’s cedar chest. They may be faded, wrinkled. The edges may be curled, bent or frayed. But each holds a memory and is a gateway into a story in time.
In this 10-week class, you’ll be guided each week on an inner journey to contact your inner muse. Your muse will help you explore a snapshot, story, waiting and ready to be seen and known in the light of a new day.
These snapshots will emerge from ubiquitous experiences we all share such as times of simple joy, times when courage was needed to overcome fear, a time of surprise - didn’t see that coming - to moments of awe beyond understanding. (See complete list below in the schedule.) Using guided meditations, journaling prompts and exercises, you’ll be invited to excavate the treasure each story holds. You may choose to express this treasure in impromptu writing, a poem, artwork, or perhaps even through a song or movement should you be so inclined. Let your inner muse be your guide!
Schedule for 10 Week Class:
Week 1: Welcome & Overview
Week 2: A Simple Joy
Week 3: The Fork in the Road
Week 4: Forgiveness Whispers
Week 5: The Surprise
Week 6: A Gift that Transformed
Week 7: When Courage Overcame Fear
Week 8: The Moment of Realization
Week 9: Awe Beyond Understanding
Week 10: Final Summary & Sharing
The Gift of Story: Finding the Sacred in the Details
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
Maya Angelou
I recently released my memoir, Dancing on the Moon: The Non-Ordinary Life I Never Saw Coming, a Spiritual Memoir. I chose to write it as simply a collection of stories — snap shots, some like the old, faded pictures with the crinkled edges you might find in your grandparent’s cedar chest, alongside more recent ones. Stories that invited me to pause, take a step back, and to softly notice what just might be peering back at me. Each one invited me to become wholly present to the past and, at the same time, the eternal here-and-now. And in ways to which I can only point, each felt sacred to me, a gift from God, some for my growth and healing, others for simply my delight and joy.
We all have a lifetime of stories within us. In this Day-Away, we’ll be using some of the short stories and themes in my memoir as a jumping off place into the stories of your life—stories that may have something to reveal to you beyond what you may have first thought or noticed. Using meditative chanting and journaling exercises, you’ll be invited to excavate a story(s) ready for the telling. It’s truly a beautiful thing to share our stories. It’s how we find ourselves in one another.
Come. Sit awhile and tell a story or two.
Wednesday, April 2, 2025, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Walking the Talk: A Pilgrimage with Peace Pilgrim
"I am a pilgrim, a wanderer.
I shall remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace,
walking until I am given shelter and fasting until I am given food.”
Peace Pilgrim
From 1953 – 1981, twenty-eight years, this silver-haired woman, known simply as Peace Pilgrim, walked, lived, and spoke to all whom she encountered about the way of peace. She walked alone, penniless, and with no organizational backing. She walked “as a prayer” to inspire others to pray and work for peace. She wore a navy-blue shirt and slacks, and a short tunic with pockets all around the bottom where she carried her only possessions: a comb, folding toothbrush, ballpoint pen, and copies of her message and current correspondence. There would be seven pilgrimages across the US and Canada totally 25,000+ miles. Mostly, she was known for her infectious joy which just seemed to increase with age.
Once when an interviewer commented, “You seem to be a most happy woman,” she replied, “I certainly am a happy person. How could one know God and not be joyous?” Still, identifying with no particular religion, she described God as an “all-pervading spirit which binds everything in the universe together and gives life to everything. I could not be where God is not. You are within God. God is within you.”
During this 8-week pilgrimage, we’ll walk alongside Peace Pilgrim and see what some of her extraordinary experiences on the road have to reveal to us about our own journeys. On Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:00 pm eastern, beginning January 15th thru March 5th, we’ll peer lovingly into her inner life where she describes the three key areas of spiritual growth: preparations, purifications and relinquishments. I will also introduce you to the Jesus Prayer in Old Slavonic, the constant practice of another peace pilgrim chronicled in the Way of a Pilgrim from the Christian Orthodox tradition.
Come and begin the new year by cultivating peace within as we journey into very unfamiliar political territory in 2025. Together, we'll create a womb of peace, a heart of joy, and a soul belonging only to God.
8 Weeks on Zoom: Wednesday, January 15th - March 5th, 6:30 - 8:00PM
The Hero-Heroine’s Journey
A Spiritual Quest of Transformation
The mountains have long been a symbol of the sacred journey calling us to a spiritual quest. They echo silently, "Come. Be the hero of your own life."
In this 8-week online class we'll dive deep into the Hero-Heroine’s Journey first highlighted by renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell in his 1949, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” This journey plays out at key points in our lives whether we recognize it or not. Becoming more conscious of the territory can help shape our inevitable transformation and bring deeper meaning to each footstep we take.
In Part 1, “Leaving the Known,” we find ourselves propelled by personal desire and-or from forces beyond our control, to move in a new direction. Right away, obstacles and fears may arise challenging our quest to sing what’s been called the Song of our Soul or, as Rolling Ridge’s core programming describes, notice what’s emerging from our inner acorn. In Part 2, “Meeting Dragons,” we face the necessary trials and tests to discover how it is we blossom not in spite of but, rather, because of, and how we access our true superpower in relation to complete surrender to the One, all the while, holding fast in the fires of transformation. Finally, in Part 3, “Returning Home,” we discover how to breathe a new way of being, forge new pathways in old territories, anchor in spiritual community, and allow what no longer serves to fall away engaging new joys in service to a greater good.
On this journey, we’ll enjoy short excerpts from “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” with questions for reflection designed to deepen thoughtful inquiry and fuel our discussions. There’ll also be a combination of experiential activities, such as a variety of Taizé meditation practices and journaling exercises, woven effortlessly into our sacred circle.
Heros and heroines, your journey is yours alone to take. But the good news is you don't have to go alone. Join us!
Wednesday, October 2nd - November 20th; 6:30 - 8:30 PM
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
Maya Angelou
I recently released my memoir, Dancing on the Moon: The Non-Ordinary Life I Never Saw Coming, a Spiritual Memoir. I chose to write it as simply a collection of stories — snap shots, some like the old, faded pictures with the crinkled edges you might find in your grandparent’s cedar chest, alongside more recent ones. Stories that invited me to pause, take a step back, and to softly notice what just might be peering back at me. Each one invited me to become wholly present to the past and, at the same time, the eternal here-and-now. And in ways to which I can only point, each felt sacred to me, a gift from God, some for my growth and healing, others for simply my delight and joy.
We all have a lifetime of stories within us. In this Day-Away, we’ll be using some of the short stories and themes in my memoir as a jumping off place into the stories of your life—stories that may have something to reveal to you beyond what you may have first thought or noticed. Using meditative chanting and journaling exercises, you’ll be invited to excavate a story(s) ready for the telling. It’s truly a beautiful thing to share our stories. It’s how we find ourselves in one another.
Come. Sit awhile and tell a story or two.
Wednesday, April 2, 2025, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Walking the Talk: A Pilgrimage with Peace Pilgrim
"I am a pilgrim, a wanderer.
I shall remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace,
walking until I am given shelter and fasting until I am given food.”
Peace Pilgrim
From 1953 – 1981, twenty-eight years, this silver-haired woman, known simply as Peace Pilgrim, walked, lived, and spoke to all whom she encountered about the way of peace. She walked alone, penniless, and with no organizational backing. She walked “as a prayer” to inspire others to pray and work for peace. She wore a navy-blue shirt and slacks, and a short tunic with pockets all around the bottom where she carried her only possessions: a comb, folding toothbrush, ballpoint pen, and copies of her message and current correspondence. There would be seven pilgrimages across the US and Canada totally 25,000+ miles. Mostly, she was known for her infectious joy which just seemed to increase with age.
Once when an interviewer commented, “You seem to be a most happy woman,” she replied, “I certainly am a happy person. How could one know God and not be joyous?” Still, identifying with no particular religion, she described God as an “all-pervading spirit which binds everything in the universe together and gives life to everything. I could not be where God is not. You are within God. God is within you.”
During this 8-week pilgrimage, we’ll walk alongside Peace Pilgrim and see what some of her extraordinary experiences on the road have to reveal to us about our own journeys. On Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:00 pm eastern, beginning January 15th thru March 5th, we’ll peer lovingly into her inner life where she describes the three key areas of spiritual growth: preparations, purifications and relinquishments. I will also introduce you to the Jesus Prayer in Old Slavonic, the constant practice of another peace pilgrim chronicled in the Way of a Pilgrim from the Christian Orthodox tradition.
Come and begin the new year by cultivating peace within as we journey into very unfamiliar political territory in 2025. Together, we'll create a womb of peace, a heart of joy, and a soul belonging only to God.
8 Weeks on Zoom: Wednesday, January 15th - March 5th, 6:30 - 8:00PM
The Hero-Heroine’s Journey
A Spiritual Quest of Transformation
The mountains have long been a symbol of the sacred journey calling us to a spiritual quest. They echo silently, "Come. Be the hero of your own life."
In this 8-week online class we'll dive deep into the Hero-Heroine’s Journey first highlighted by renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell in his 1949, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” This journey plays out at key points in our lives whether we recognize it or not. Becoming more conscious of the territory can help shape our inevitable transformation and bring deeper meaning to each footstep we take.
In Part 1, “Leaving the Known,” we find ourselves propelled by personal desire and-or from forces beyond our control, to move in a new direction. Right away, obstacles and fears may arise challenging our quest to sing what’s been called the Song of our Soul or, as Rolling Ridge’s core programming describes, notice what’s emerging from our inner acorn. In Part 2, “Meeting Dragons,” we face the necessary trials and tests to discover how it is we blossom not in spite of but, rather, because of, and how we access our true superpower in relation to complete surrender to the One, all the while, holding fast in the fires of transformation. Finally, in Part 3, “Returning Home,” we discover how to breathe a new way of being, forge new pathways in old territories, anchor in spiritual community, and allow what no longer serves to fall away engaging new joys in service to a greater good.
On this journey, we’ll enjoy short excerpts from “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” with questions for reflection designed to deepen thoughtful inquiry and fuel our discussions. There’ll also be a combination of experiential activities, such as a variety of Taizé meditation practices and journaling exercises, woven effortlessly into our sacred circle.
Heros and heroines, your journey is yours alone to take. But the good news is you don't have to go alone. Join us!
Wednesday, October 2nd - November 20th; 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Introduction to the Hero-Heroine’s Journey ~ Day Apart:
A Spiritual Quest of Transformation
A Spiritual Quest of Transformation
What do the journeys of Jesus Christ, Mother Mary and Paul from the New Testament, and Moses from the Hebrew Bible have in common? Each of their stories reveal the key parts of the archetypal Hero-Heroine’s Journey: the hero-heroine departs from their ordinary world, faces the necessary trials and challenges, and returns home transformed. This narrative structure was first identified in Joseph Campbell’s 1949, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” and is reflected throughout biblical and mythological stories, as well as across literary and film genres. For example, we can identify the Journey in movies like Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings, as well as in the Christian allegory, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, the nineteenth-century Russian Orthodox religious classic, The Way of a Pilgram, and in the widely popular contemporary novel, The Alchemist.
And it is also alive and well in us.
In this Day Apart Retreat, we’ll take our own experiential journey through the major archetypes of the Hero-Heroine’s Journey. We’ll explore the call initiating the journey and how it relates to the song of the soul; examine why tests and challenges are key to transformation, and how aligning our will to thy will brings victory. Finally, we’ll discover how the road back leaves us not where we began. Along the way we’ll enjoy thoughtful discussion, beautiful Taizé chanting and simple circle movements, quiet journaling and drawing as desired, and heart centered sharing of insights along the way.
Sunday, June 2, 2024, 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM
Come and delight in your soul’s quest for adventure and revelation.
And it is also alive and well in us.
In this Day Apart Retreat, we’ll take our own experiential journey through the major archetypes of the Hero-Heroine’s Journey. We’ll explore the call initiating the journey and how it relates to the song of the soul; examine why tests and challenges are key to transformation, and how aligning our will to thy will brings victory. Finally, we’ll discover how the road back leaves us not where we began. Along the way we’ll enjoy thoughtful discussion, beautiful Taizé chanting and simple circle movements, quiet journaling and drawing as desired, and heart centered sharing of insights along the way.
Sunday, June 2, 2024, 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM
Come and delight in your soul’s quest for adventure and revelation.
Ave Maria! Walking Barefoot with Mary
We are all meant to be mothers of God…
for God is always needing to be born.
Meister Eckhart
We are all meant to be mothers of God…
for God is always needing to be born.
Meister Eckhart
In this Day Apart in–person offering, you’re invited to come and walk in the footsteps of Mother Mary. Inspired by Edward Sri’s Walking with Mary: A Biblical Journey from Nazareth to the Cross, we’ll follow her most courageous and awe–filled example to learn how we too may walk a little more closely with the Lord. We’ll explore together how to answer the call for our lives, transform the fear that inevitably shows up, and cultivate the total surrender required to be a mother of God.
Using Taize, simple circle–movement meditation, chanting, journaling and sharing, we’ll explore together just what it means to walk with Mary, one footstep at a time. Although I am not a Catholic, I’ve been blessed to walk with the holy Mother and have felt her presence and grace, in particular, in times of great need. It is a true blessing to offer this Day Apart.
In-Person: Wednesday, Dec. 14th, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM (If inclement weather, it'll be offered on Zoom.)
Using Taize, simple circle–movement meditation, chanting, journaling and sharing, we’ll explore together just what it means to walk with Mary, one footstep at a time. Although I am not a Catholic, I’ve been blessed to walk with the holy Mother and have felt her presence and grace, in particular, in times of great need. It is a true blessing to offer this Day Apart.
In-Person: Wednesday, Dec. 14th, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM (If inclement weather, it'll be offered on Zoom.)
Reclaim the Ecstatic Cry! Living the Prayer of Jesus
An 8-Week Online Study of the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic
An 8-Week Online Study of the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic
Imagine with me . . . sitting on a hill far away, over two thousand years ago, listening to a man called Jesus when someone asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And he answered, in Aramaic, with what we know today as the Lord’s Prayer. On this 8–week, online, journey, we’ll go back together to hear the original words for ourselves and, in doing so, reach new depths of understanding and receive the true essence of Jesus’ message regarding how to pray.
But disclaimer! This is only the beginning! For just as the early disciples discovered, reciting the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic ignites a spark—a spark that awakens a remembrance of our innate divinity as children of the living God. And as this remembrance begins to resound in the silent chambers of our heart, the prayer begins to inform every aspect of daily life. Nothing is the same. We’ve been set afire by love everlasting and left undone and now can only release our own involuntary, ecstatic cry. This is what it means to pray!
So, on this special journey through the prayer in Aramaic, prepare to be surprised, delighted and, perhaps, even challenged. As one nun of over thirty years exclaimed after one workshop, “I’ve said the Our Father every day for over thirty years. And now, I’ll never say it the same way again!”
This class is based on my book, Living the Prayer of Jesus: A Study of the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic (available on Amazon). Recommended but not required as I’ll be providing supplemental handouts. Each week, you’ll learn a line of the prayer and we’ll use suggested questions for reflection to guide our sharing, unlocking the deeper meanings. You’ll also enjoy access to audio teaching recordings of the prayer to use as you may desire.
Come and re-discover the prayer of Jesus.
Just perhaps, the prayer will leave you not where you began—joyously exclaiming your own ecstatic cry!
Online: 8-Weeks, Tuesday, Sept. 27th - Nov. 15th, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
But disclaimer! This is only the beginning! For just as the early disciples discovered, reciting the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic ignites a spark—a spark that awakens a remembrance of our innate divinity as children of the living God. And as this remembrance begins to resound in the silent chambers of our heart, the prayer begins to inform every aspect of daily life. Nothing is the same. We’ve been set afire by love everlasting and left undone and now can only release our own involuntary, ecstatic cry. This is what it means to pray!
So, on this special journey through the prayer in Aramaic, prepare to be surprised, delighted and, perhaps, even challenged. As one nun of over thirty years exclaimed after one workshop, “I’ve said the Our Father every day for over thirty years. And now, I’ll never say it the same way again!”
This class is based on my book, Living the Prayer of Jesus: A Study of the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic (available on Amazon). Recommended but not required as I’ll be providing supplemental handouts. Each week, you’ll learn a line of the prayer and we’ll use suggested questions for reflection to guide our sharing, unlocking the deeper meanings. You’ll also enjoy access to audio teaching recordings of the prayer to use as you may desire.
Come and re-discover the prayer of Jesus.
Just perhaps, the prayer will leave you not where you began—joyously exclaiming your own ecstatic cry!
Online: 8-Weeks, Tuesday, Sept. 27th - Nov. 15th, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
In Celebration of Earth Day! The Mountains are Dancing…!
it’s april (yes, april; my darling) it’s spring!
yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can fly
yes the little fish gambol as glad as can be
(yes the mountains are dancing together)
e.e. cummings
After a long winter of hibernation, come out and join in the dance of all creation and celebrate the mystery, wonder and eternal resilience and renewal of our blessed Mother Earth. In this day workshop, we’ll repeat the sounding joy as we join those dancing mountains and step light to journey deep to embody the sacred mantra practices from across faith traditions. Using simple circle movements, we’ll join together, hand in hand, breath by breath, footstep by footstep to journey to the center of the holy to discover what the Greek philosopher Empedocles knew: “The nature of God is a circle of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere.” Welcome Home.
You’ll want to bring a notebook and, perhaps, some drawing materials for the silent reflection times between dances to record the lingering echoes that are still speaking . . . from those pretty birds frolicking as spry as can fly and from the little fish gamboling as glad as can be because, like us, those blessed mountains are dancing together. Not to worry if you don’t consider yourself a dancer! The steps and movements are simple so as to easily express the beauty.
Come and join the circle where, like the mountains and the hills, our one heart will burst into song and, I’m quite certain, all the trees of the field will clap their hands. (Isiah 55:12)
In Person, Friday, April 22, 2022, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
it’s april (yes, april; my darling) it’s spring!
yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can fly
yes the little fish gambol as glad as can be
(yes the mountains are dancing together)
e.e. cummings
After a long winter of hibernation, come out and join in the dance of all creation and celebrate the mystery, wonder and eternal resilience and renewal of our blessed Mother Earth. In this day workshop, we’ll repeat the sounding joy as we join those dancing mountains and step light to journey deep to embody the sacred mantra practices from across faith traditions. Using simple circle movements, we’ll join together, hand in hand, breath by breath, footstep by footstep to journey to the center of the holy to discover what the Greek philosopher Empedocles knew: “The nature of God is a circle of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere.” Welcome Home.
You’ll want to bring a notebook and, perhaps, some drawing materials for the silent reflection times between dances to record the lingering echoes that are still speaking . . . from those pretty birds frolicking as spry as can fly and from the little fish gamboling as glad as can be because, like us, those blessed mountains are dancing together. Not to worry if you don’t consider yourself a dancer! The steps and movements are simple so as to easily express the beauty.
Come and join the circle where, like the mountains and the hills, our one heart will burst into song and, I’m quite certain, all the trees of the field will clap their hands. (Isiah 55:12)
In Person, Friday, April 22, 2022, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Lovers in the Wilderness: Awaken Mystical Unity and Create a Joyful Life with Mantra Prayer
Mystical unity. Poets dream about it. Scholars analyzed it. Saints and Avatars across faith traditions have lived it. And, throughout time, ordinary seekers, like you and me, have yearned for it. Now just imagine . . . what if that yearning led you deep into the unexplored wilderness of your inner soul to discover a secret passage into a place where silence speaks of all there is to know—a place to which you can only point—yet, once discovered, know better, trust more, than any other place you could possibly conceive of or imagine? What if, beyond all you’ve ever feared, beyond all your doubts, even beyond all your questions, there was a simple answer waiting, waiting for just the right moment, to cut through all you thought you knew to, imperceptibly, lay at your feet the one truth that informs all the others—that right there, within you, all along, was the treasure you’ve been so desperately seeking? What if you finally understood that this treasure could not be found or created—only allowed—for, in truth, it is already you? Welcome to Mantra Prayer—where you create the conditions to experience that which is beyond understanding, moments of mystical unity, and where, at last, your deepest yearning can be satisfied.
In this 10–week online class, we’ll explore together just what mystical unity is. You’ll be given concrete instruction in how to create a Mantra Prayer spiritual practice and shown how to navigate the challenges as they arise. You’ll learn how to become co–creators with your God through the dance of will and surrender. And, each week, we’ll practice key mantra practices from across six faith traditions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, known for their ability to help cultivate healing and forgiveness, courage and focus, and living with an open heart.
Come. Join with other lovers in the wilderness. Who knows? You just may be left silent and ecstatic with awe.
Text: Lovers in the Wilderness: Awaken Mystical Unity and Create a Joyful Life with Mantra Prayer by Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt released by Wipf and Stock Publishers in January 2021. To read an excerpt, please visit the BOOKS link above.
Tuesday, 6:00–7:30 PM, September 14th through November 16th, 2021.
Walking the Labyrinth of the Soul: St. Teresa’s Inner Castle
I began to think of the soul as if it were a castle made of a single diamond or of very clear crystal, in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions.
St. Teresa
You are lovingly invited to embark on this online 8–week spiritual journey to the center of your soul where, like a diamond, all shines forth with beauty and truth. Our way in will be the labyrinth for we know that the way there is not straight but, rather, circular taking us in ways often unexpected yet always ever closer to the center. And, there may even be a pause approaching the labyrinth for our journey for, indeed, the soul knows what’s coming in that very moment of not knowing. Yet, love compels us and so we step. Ah, but this is no ordinary love for, as we move ever closer to our interior center where the diamond shines brightest, we discover that this love will require the ultimate sacrifice: the gift of our self so we may experience our birth in Christ. But we don’t know yet, as the little butterfly in the last mansion, the ecstasy that comes from the death of all that has stood in the way of us walking with our God. We don’t know so we step reverently holding fast to St. Teresa’s assurance, “Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All passes away except God and God alone is sufficient.”
Come and join our sacred circle for it’s such a blessing to journey with others where we may both give and receive support, care and love. We’ll explore together with interactive reflection, Christian mantra practice, and experiential exercises. Come and catch a glimpse of the butterfly within. It just may compel you to wonder at the joy—the joy St. Teresa says will make the soul forget itself, forget everything, except that which proceeds from this joy—namely the praises of God.
Text: “Interior Castle: St. Teresa of Avila,” Translated and Edited by E. Allison Peers
Tuesday, 6:00 – 7:30 PM, February 2nd through March 23rd, 2021
At the Water's Edge: A Reflection into the Cloud of Unknowing
Online Program Offered by Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center, North Andover, MA
An 8-Week Journey, September 29th - November 17th, 2020, Tuesday Evenings, 6:00 - 7:30 EST
Text: The Cloud of Unknowing & the Book of Privy Counseling, Forward by Huston Smith, edited by William Johnston. You'll want to have this by the first class to begin your reading!
I drank the silence of God from a spring in the woods.
Georg Trakl
How fitting that the author who wrote this classic text in the 14th century remains anonymous for he tells us that to know God we must take the apophatic road to nothingness and nowhere, let go of all we 'think' God is to, just perhaps, in a blessed moment of forgetting, come to 'experience' what God truly is. Gratefully, we’re told not to worry if we can’t grasp it as, surely, such moments can’t be explained—but may be revealed in response to our humble, loving, heart. So, we come to our practice to gently pull back our wandering minds and yearning hearts to create a kind of inner crucible, silent and empty, most fitting for our God’s visit. And, over time, something quite sweet begins to happen—more and more, as we walk out into our days, we notice, suddenly now, that there is nowhere God is not! There is God moving in the wind, speaking through stones, budding the dandelion, cooing the mourning doves, and, most graciously, there, looking back at us through the eyes of our neighbors, next door and around the world. Having dared to lose ourselves in nothingness and nowhere, we have found ourselves to be everywhere, like one of those dandelions in the field, unique yet an integral part of all that is—the glorious body of Christ. Welcome home.
In this 8-week class, we’ll journey together toward nothingness and nowhere delighting in interactive sharing, Christian mantra practice, and engaging in many experiential exercises. You’ll receive an accompanying study guide with questions for reflections to guide our focus each week and with ideas for further enrichment during the days between our meetings.
Come. Journey with us toward nothingness and nowhere. You just may find yourself at the water’s edge drinking in the silence of God.
Journey to the High Places: Themes from Hinds' Feet on High Places
by Hannah Hurnard
Online Workshop Offered by Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center
Wednesday, May 20th, 2020, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Free to the public with optional donation to Rolling Ridge!
“It is so happy to love,” said the Shepherd quietly. “There is pain too, certainly,
but Love does not think that very significant.”
Join us as we journey with MUCH AFRAID on her quest to follow the Good Shepherd to the high places where the Kingdom of Love resides. On the way, we, like MUCH AFRAID, will taste the eternal wisdom revealing just how we too may triumph over fear and darkness, that weeping that endures in our darkest nights, to know joy that comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5).
We, too, will begin to taste freedom from those ties that bind when we discover how every challenging circumstance, when seen through the eyes of love, can be transformed. And we, too, just might begin to see ourselves as God sees us.
On this online Day Apart retreat, we’ll blend interactive discussion of the major themes from this beloved allegory with Christian mantra practice, creating the conditions to hear in God’s own contemplative language: silence. We’ll journey into our interior landscapes to discover there twelve stones which just may reveal their secrets to us if we could hear—secrets we need to know to reach the Kingdom of Love. And we, too, like MUCH AFRAID, will be brought into the humble stillness as Love has its way with us, transforming us into Grace and Glory.
Join us.
Who knows? You, too, may just find yourself singing, "It is so happy to love."
by Hannah Hurnard
Online Workshop Offered by Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center
Wednesday, May 20th, 2020, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Free to the public with optional donation to Rolling Ridge!
“It is so happy to love,” said the Shepherd quietly. “There is pain too, certainly,
but Love does not think that very significant.”
Join us as we journey with MUCH AFRAID on her quest to follow the Good Shepherd to the high places where the Kingdom of Love resides. On the way, we, like MUCH AFRAID, will taste the eternal wisdom revealing just how we too may triumph over fear and darkness, that weeping that endures in our darkest nights, to know joy that comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5).
We, too, will begin to taste freedom from those ties that bind when we discover how every challenging circumstance, when seen through the eyes of love, can be transformed. And we, too, just might begin to see ourselves as God sees us.
On this online Day Apart retreat, we’ll blend interactive discussion of the major themes from this beloved allegory with Christian mantra practice, creating the conditions to hear in God’s own contemplative language: silence. We’ll journey into our interior landscapes to discover there twelve stones which just may reveal their secrets to us if we could hear—secrets we need to know to reach the Kingdom of Love. And we, too, like MUCH AFRAID, will be brought into the humble stillness as Love has its way with us, transforming us into Grace and Glory.
Join us.
Who knows? You, too, may just find yourself singing, "It is so happy to love."