Recently I visited my “heart home” in a sleepy little valley in the Rocky Mountains. I first traveled there as an infant with my parents and have returned many times with my own family. We scattered my husband’s ashes there. And my adult children make their own make pilgrimage there.
Over the years that place has become an annual touch stone for me. No matter what life brings each year, in the mountains I breathe deeply of God’s presence and peace. The lush life of the verdant valley soothes and heals. God’s wondrous creation overwhelms me with its beauty. The consoling sounds of nature restore what modern life has depleted—the busy brook bubbling absently, the wind whispering through the aspens, the magpies trading jabs, the hummingbirds dipping in for a drink, reset my weary soul.
From year-to-year little changes in the valley. As I wrote many years ago, there is a beautiful sameness to that place. A soothing slowness. A consoling quietness. I feel God’s pleasure as I take in such beauty. As John O’Donohue writes, “blessed be the longing that brought you here and quickens your soul with wonder.”
I don’t get to the Rockies as often as I’d like, but I am learning the importance of respite moments in my life. And these days I’m better at noticing when my soul starts feeling like an old sock unraveling at the edges.
And maybe harder for me, instead of anxiously cramming every moment with my own agenda, I am learning with Elizabeth Barrett Browning that “earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God.” I don’t want to miss that.
Recently on a clergy retreat (again in the mountains) the Lord whispered such things to me, “Delight in the gift of rest! Drink deep of it! Find your rest in me, and you will ably do what I have called you to do.”
I’m trying to be faithful to that, especially in the busyness of everyday life. To that end I invite you to join me on retreat at the Abbey. It is just a day in a little sanctuary in a thriving metroplex, but it is a real opportunity to meet with Jesus and breathe deeply of his presence and peace.
We welcome you to any or all of the upcoming silent retreats: September 26, November 14 and December 5, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Each is a quiet day of prayer, reflection and gentle conversation (bring your walking shoes). Find details on our Retreat page.
To register, email admin@trinitylakeside.org with your name and the date(s) of the retreats you would like to register for. The admin will confirm that there is a place for you and instruct you as to how to pay for the retreat(s).
I hope you’ll join me in embracing the goodness of rest.
Mother Markene