The revelatory power of retreats

I'm in the midst of an 8-day retreat at Ontario's main Jesuit centre, Loyola House. It is proving to be a fascinating and very uplifting experience. Being in silence for hours at a time has really put me in touch with the amazing energy we are working with in our "Living As If" course. Yes, the Jesuits are a Catholic order following a Catholic ethos (which I'm comfortable with, since I'm a Catholic), but I have to say that their energy and their perspective is far wider than just a Catholic context. Jesuits are among the most open and progressive of spiritually-based orders...they believe that the Divine is found everywhere and in all things and people. They often have a cosmological viewpoint. The great Jesuit thinker, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, was one of the first in the modern age to articulate the idea that the universe and everything within it is connected and alive.

One of things I've learned a lot about is self-care when playing in the new energies of creating new paradigms and finding the ancient roots of many of these insights. People on retreat here are treated well, cared for with comfortable warm beds, delicious food, and a landscape that is exquisitely beautiful. I've had so many walks in the forest, including walking the enormous labyrinth on the land, and following the "Chardin Trail" which takes me to the Stations of the Cosmos, all carved in wood. I've also spent many hours sitting in the dark in the chapel with just one lantern burning. Any of you who know me know that I'm very verbal and love talking. I thought that being in silence would prove difficult, but you'd be surprised how readily I can surrender into silence. Touching the silence, being in the silence, resting in it, has given me an experience of the vast interplay of energies and of the truths we are exploring in the course.

Each day for an hour, each retreatant has the opportunity to speak with a spiritual director who actually doesn't "direct" anything, but instead asks the question, "What is coming up for you in the silence? What does your soul and spirit tell you?" My "director" is a wonderful white-haired Jesuit who reminds me of the figure of Merlin in the King Arthur stories. Since today is All Hallows Eve (Halloween), many of the retreatants agree that he is the resident Wizard. Yesterday he was talking about life as a kind of alchemy that uncovers the gold within us. I like that!

Blessings to all on All Hallows! They say that tonight the veil between the spirit world and the manifest world grows thin, allowing us to communicate with the essences of those who have passed on, people and other beings to whom we are grateful. Tonight I plan to light candles for several people in the chapel, and to sit in vigil. It's almost a full moon, the wind is blowing outside, and there is this sense of the land breathing and preparing itself for the coming of winter.

We're not carving pumpkins or eating candy (although I do think the chef is in the kitchen making pumpkin pies), but we are in the sacredness of all the mysteries of the Cosmos.

Sending blessings and gratitude,
Sharon

Just got back from a night spent  with Linda,Sharon and Susan and I am so grateful that I am able to spend the night being with and talking to travellers on this wonderful journey.  I am also grateful because I was getting a little weary but now have more energy and more desire and really happy I am on this journey.  Thank you    Peace and Love Patty. Ps we have set another time to meet.  😊😍😻😴

Friday October 12, 2017

Well ladies,  Mark thinks I may have been a nun in a former life!   (not sure if that is exciting or not). I am becoming conscious of more that  lies under my call to a spiritual path that  welcomes me with open arms, supports  faith practice that honors some beloved traditions, and encourages me to step up and  share how I  really feel and and think and believe. But then the gift of consciousness happens and I am aware of the conflict and fear!  (thought I had sorted that out).
Sometimes I think that my mind acted like a steel trap for much of my life and pushed  down, way down, the fear and conflict that is now arising in my consciousness (thought I was done with that).  Had a dream once where a steel trap fell out of my womb (not recently), perhaps a message for me that I did not understand and heed.
So does anyone have experience with past lives?   Please share!
Blessings to all as the darkness approaches this  beautiful northland.
Susan

                                                    We Are  All  Shining Stars

Hello ladies and Mark,


  I just came from a Memorial for one of my friends, at which I had a similar experience as I did this past summer with my ex-husband who also passed away. At both of these events, I found myself totally present to the moments, and such a deeper time it was for me, being able for the first times to   see and breathe in more of  what was happening before me.   I witnessed the stories and love of others who knew them both in different ways than I had, and  now see the expanded way in which their lives were like shining stars in the world.  This despite both having been persons who knew much conflict also, but they were people who said it honestly -- what they really felt and really thought.  It waa such a pleasure to witness this reality, and reminds me daily now to tell others how they impact me, especially in the positive.  May I have more expanded awareness  moments like those, as Mark has been encourging us to live.  Yes, we are all shining stars in our wholeness, sending light to others, even when we do not know that we are.

Love to you all,
Sue