Events & Visitations
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Dying Well, Living Better Retreat – St. David’s, Nashville
June 2, 2022 @ 9:00 am – June 4, 2022 @ 5:00 pm
Parker Palmer writes, “The human soul doesn’t want to be fixed, it simply wants to be seen and heard. The soul is like a wild animal – tough, resilient, and shy. When we go crashing through the woods shouting for it to come out so we can help it, the soul will stay in hiding. But if we are willing to sit quietly and wait for a while, the soul may show itself.”
With a mortality rate of over 1 million in the United States, the pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of human life in myriad ways. It has also shown us how community, that source from which we have drawn to lift our spirits and buoy our confidence, can lead to our demise. Now that we are knitting ourselves, our routines, our communal practices back together, we may find that things aren’t coming together as they once were. The world has changed. We have changed.
This workshop invites participants to sit quietly for a while and consider how the pandemic has redistributed their priorities so that they might glimpse more soul in their lives. Using death as our catalyst, or our sketchpad, we will encounter both joys and griefs as a means of showing us where our lives may be inviting us to engage our living time more deeply.
Participants will have ample time and space to consider living better by doing individual reflective activities as well as small group involvement. We will be spending a lot of time outside on Saint David’s hillside and in the woods. Each day lunch will be provided, but participants are invited to bring snacks and non-alcoholic drinks to share. Space is limited to 11 persons, and the cost for this retreat is $200. Scholarships are available. If you are interested in participating, please click on the following link to register: Dying Well Registration. Once you have registered you will receive a confirmation email with more directions.