The alphabet of the Spirit: A conversation with Evagrius Ponticus

The alphabet of the Spirit: A conversation with Evagrius Ponticus

Chuck Huff
Lenten Retreat

Three hundred years after the death of Jesus on the outskirts of Jerusalem and 1,000 kilometers away, the habitable margins of the deserts of Egypt were filling up with strange people devoted to becoming more like him.  The eldest and most revered of these are called the Desert Elders.  Most were native Egyptian villagers and peasants who left their villages and farms to enter the desert and follow more seriously the way of Christ.  They were mostly poor, not well educated, and of lower social class.   Their language was Coptic, with its roots in the ancient agriculture of the Nile. 

Walking with the Desert Elders through Lent: An invitation

Walking with the Desert Elders through Lent: An invitation

Chuck Huff
lesson from the monastery, Lenten Retreat

The deep origins of Christianity are in the desert. It was an urban and pastoral culture on the edge of the desert into which Jesus was born. When he was baptized, Jesus was driven to walk into the desert for 40 days of fasting and reflection.  The origins of monasticism came from Christians walking into the desert, away from the distractions and comfort of urban society.  This Lent, we will be reflecting on the spiritual journeys and wisdom of those desert Elders.  What knowledge can these gentle and severe extremists bring us for our own life journeys?

Courage for Solitude: With Some Help from Rainer Maria Rilke

Courage for Solitude: With Some Help from Rainer Maria Rilke

Almut Furchert
poetry

Currently on our own writing retreat tucked away on a little island in mainland Florida surrounded only by water and wildlife we came to ponder on the art of solitude in new ways. It is not always easy to be with each other in solitude.  Suddenly you are met by problems which long wanted to be discussed, by duties which long needed to be done, by questions which have long waited for answers, even by a blog post which is not written yet. 

Ignoring the Rev. Dr. King

Chuck Huff

In 1962, I was seven years old.  My sister and I were watching cartoons on Saturday morning when the picture tube of the television died.  Ploop.  Darkness.  The argument about whether we would watch Tarzan or Captain Kangaroo was now moot.  Mother's solution to this argument was to never repair the television.   So I never watched the moon landings.  Or pictures of the Vietnam War.  Or President Kennedy's speeches. I was pressed into duty handing out campaign literature for Barry Goldwater.  But I never watched the Rev. Dr. King give a speech, or march; I never saw the news reels of black protesters' bodies rolling down the street assaulted by water from firehoses. I saw neither the terror nor the triumph of the civil rights movement.  

 

Epiphany: Offering your Gifts

Epiphany: Offering your Gifts

Almut Furchert

Some women point out rightly that if it had been three wise women, they would have brought different gifts to the holy child, perhaps a blanket and some food, and they might have watched the baby so Mary could sleep.  These would have been wise gifts for a cold infant in winter and an exhausted mother.  But when we translate the story into our own inward journey, bringing our most precious gifts might not be so inappropriate, after all.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas. Finding the key inside.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas. Finding the key inside.

Almut Furchert
12 Days of Christmas 2017

With Epiphany approaching here is an invitation to ponder the mystery of Divine birth once again with a little help from two of my favorite depth psychologists: Søren Kierkegaard and C.G. Jung.

Kierkegaard tells a tale of a man rowing out on a lake in the quiet of dusk. The shallow lake lay silent beyond the circles where the oars broke the surface of the water, trickling little droplets of murky water back into the boat. It was then that an oar hit a dark object on the shallow floor of the lake. When the man lifted it out of the water he found himself looking at a little treasure chest...

 

The Eleventh Day of Christmas. Following the Star

The Eleventh Day of Christmas. Following the Star

Almut Furchert
12 Days of Christmas 2017

Yesterday we practiced looking at the Divine birth through the eyes of a child. Today I would like to offer some guidance about the story of wise men from the medieval Abbess and spiritual guide Hildegard of Bingen. In her Christmas homilies, she invites us to translate the Christmas story into the heart's journey.  But what does Epiphany, the feast of the three kings, have to do with our heart's journey?

The Tenth Day of Christmas. Through the Eyes of a Child

The Tenth Day of Christmas. Through the Eyes of a Child

Almut Furchert
12 Days of Christmas 2017

Or CAN'T YOU SEE, THE JESUS BABY IS FREEZING! What if we could see Christmas through the eyes of a child again?  What if we were able to put our adult perspective away for a while and just listen in child-like innocence to the unfolding of this story?
Have you driven by all the outside nativity scenes in front of houses or churches? Well, that might be cosy in warmer climates, but what about little Jesus freezing outside at 20 below? Wouldn't a child cry out: "Look, little Jesus is freezing!" How have we gotten used to the Christmas story as mere decoration item? Who had the idea to put nativity scenes outside in the snow anyway?

The Ninth day of Christmas. A New Year's Walk

Chuck Huff
12 Days of Christmas 2017

Yesterday, in arctic temperatures, we went on our New Years' walk over the lake towards Stella Maris Chapel. Our footprints in the snow, and the icy stairs reminded us of a poem by the German poet Hermann Hesse. Hesse knows we often prefer to live with our comfortable selves, and not step out into the challenging new.  Here he calls us to health and wholeness, to taking courage, to walking through our farewells, to stepping forward by leaving behind, one step at a time.  We share this, our own translation of the poem, with you as a blessing for this day.

The Sixth Day of Christmas: Collecting the Year

The Sixth Day of Christmas: Collecting the Year

Almut Furchert
12 Days of Christmas 2017

Are you tired of bucket lists and New Year's resolutions?  We would like to invite you for a time of recollection instead. You can do this by walking in silence, by looking back on the reflections of this journey so far, or by taking some time to look with kindness on your life using the practice we provide below. For this the writer Søren Kierkegaard offers us two guides from beyond.

The Fifth Day of Christmas: Towards the Threshold

The Fifth Day of Christmas: Towards the Threshold

Almut Furchert & Chuck Huff
12 Days of Christmas, 12 Days of Christmas 2017

We have been doing some difficult work on this journey, with what seems like nigh-impossible goals: to cultivate a virgin heart, to sit in perfect silence, to reach that inner room where God meets us.  Even under the best of conditions, it would be easy to lose heart.  Even in a quiet room, with a candle for focus, and time for concentration, the thoughts keep intruding, insistent: undone tasks, unchecked lists, repressed sorrows, old embarrassments, new fears.  We are imperfect pilgrims.

The fourth Day of Christmas. Walking inside yourself

Almut Furchert
12 Days of Christmas 2017

On the fourth Day of Christmas snow drifted ever so quietly down to earth, tenderly covering the landscape  with a  white veil. Every year I am afraid of winter. Every year I am, again, taken by surprise to watch the beauty of the first snow falling, to listen to my silent steps in the thin blanket of snow. The whole world is washed clean and hushed into a peaceful rest.

It is often just so in the spiritual world. We get afraid when, in our lives, the last colors of Fall vanish and our life is put on hold under an icy layer of cold. Yet still, we know, somewhere below those cold layers there is life waiting to burst into bloom again in spring.

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