Day 4 at SpiritRest

Post by Jerilyn Harris, spiritual director

Thursday: Transformation
I’m sitting here on day four of SpiritRest Retreat listening to a fountain spilling over with water. Each drip over the stone edge tickles my eardrums and eases my soul. This easing and this tickling seems to be the ongoing stretch of the quiet days and deep listening.

Our time here at the retreat is coming to an end, and as I sit and reflect on the beauty of the journey, I am filled with gratitude for the community that has gathered here to commit to a time of reflection. For some of us, there has been solace in the quiet, and for others there has been delight in the exploration of nature and sacred space; for others still, there has been healing in the holding in the secludedness.

Together though, we have allowed space and time for the transformation work that love often entices us to.  In some moments this has meant facing our shadow self or praying for our enemies. In some moments it meant breaking bread together or learning new “ecstatic” ways of seeing things. Always, though, it involved the setting of love.

In this moment, as I listen to the fountain overflowing with a water that speaks to me of quenching a world thirsty for love and connection, I wish more quiet, gentle, graceful space for all who have walked here. I wish peace for those who seek it and love for those who desire it.

May the reawakenings and the spacious clearings that took place this week in our hearts keep expanding and rippling out into the universe and love for all.