An unscripted welcome back
The person who wants to save their life must lose it …
— Matthew 16:25a
God is the riverbed of mercy that underlies all the ephemeral flotsam and jetsam of your life. This riverbed is vast, silent, restful, and resourceful… To look out from this untouchable silence is to live from your soul space, where God dwells most generously.
— Richard Rohr, just this
What a fun weekend of being reunited with our beloved Well community! It wasn’t just Kevin & I who were welcomed back from sabbatical; some who had been traveling most of the summer also returned just in time to enjoy a weekend of camping, exploring & just being together.
Beautiful space was created by our hosts, Annie, Tim H. & Deb. It was an important lesson in what happens when we enjoy the gift of intentional yet, unscripted space together. Instead of a tightly woven activity-filled retreat schedule, we arrived to the sweetest swag bags, super-helpful maps to help us find each other, a ton of good food & some fun, festive decorations (thanks, Bekah!). Campers brought games & breakfast food to share, and Laurel led us on a nature walk. We were invited to fill paper bags with souvenirs from nature & to return to create something together. With this group, I have learned to expect the unexpected - not only did Patti go off the beaten path & start wandering through the woods, but Tim came toward me carrying the skeletal remains of a deer carcass (!). You can’t make this stuff up. See the tree pics below to witness what came to life when we returned to create together!
As we closed the weekend Sunday morning with some silence & reflection, we pondered all that happened in this intentional, yet unscripted space. Stories & art were shared, games were played, spontaneous jeep rides were taken, the sounds of nature were experienced, we heard & saw one another a little more clearly, and one person even shared how, in the quiet, she could hear her own thoughts.
That is no small thing.
We need more space to access our souls, where the “riverbed of mercy” awaits our attention. Instead of filling in every inch of our time & attention (whether by overcommitting or mindlessly checking our devices to hear what everyone is saying about everything, etc.), I wonder what could happen if we left a little more margin - some unscripted space - in our lives.
What might we hear or gain access to or create?
How might we get the chance to catch our breath or catch a glimpse of birds flying by? Or experience being seen & reminded that we are not as weird as we think we are & that we are not alone? (that happened this weekend, too :)
