Coracle news

Duns retreat Sep 11: Seeking the treasure within

Posted Wednesday 05 October 2011

What am I to do? and What am I becoming?

What is the treasure hidden within you that God calls out from you?
What is to be your unique contribution to the life of the world at this stage in your life?
What in your heart of hearts would you love to do?

This retreat day was designed to offer opportunities to reflect on our personal responses to such questions in the context of our own life journeys and explore how we may each desire to go forward.

Use as a personal retreat: Seeking the treasure within

Here is a summary introduction to the day which could also be used as a personal retreat. Mags Bryan produced a handout for a meditative walk tailored to the specific terrain that we were in: ‘In the canopy of trees, do I feel God’s great wings spread over me?’.  Kirsty told the story of the great pearl in the style of Godly Play.  We ate together at a large dining table.  Jane offered articles on the topic of vocation and gathered us together with liturgy at the end of the day. Some of what we did and looked at cannot be transferred but much of the rest can be, with the aid of pictures and video.  You may, having clicked on the photos and videos link, press Slideshow and sit with the river videos as they played a significant part in our day.  So, click on the brown text to access retreat materials and off we go…

Opening prayer

O God who reaches out to us,
circle our hearts,
centre our minds,
still our bodies,
be present to us now.
Amen.

A beginning

You may lean toward questions of being rather than doing, or in the marriage of the two.  You may feel like Bilbo the hobbit, like butter spread too thin across toast, or a satellite of your own life, living on the circumference rather than at the centre of your life.  The poet David Whyte writes of finding “the one line already written inside you”.  It may be that you are tussling with the gap between what you do and who you are?  What to do with it, how to view it?  What might finding the treasure mean for you?  RS Thomas’s the Bright Field may be one line of enquiry.  You may be conscious of the need for something to give, that a new you is emerging or a new path is to be taken.  Maybe some challenging surrender is ahead of you?

A path

Maybe in Jesus you see both being and doing in perfect harmony.  The I AM superimposed on the cross of Jesus may be one thing for you to ponder.  Or the story of Mary and Martha may yet hold further layers of personal meaning for you, there’s a wee meditation, What’s the main course?  What matters most?  ‘Your heart is where your treasure is’ said Jesus. Maybe you know where the treasure is but are hesitant.  Mary Oliver’s poem The Journey may be a good companion:  One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began though the voices round you kept shouting. There may be a phrase of scripture that you want to be with:  ‘not I, but Christ’ from Galatians 2 or blind Paul’s words on the Damascus road in Acts 22: ‘What shall I do Lord?’ And we have outlined a way of being with scripture called Lectio Divina, listening to scripture being spoken with us, allowing image or word to capture our attention, noting desire that is aroused and the response that may be uttered.

During the day be aware of…

perhaps a moment when you were moved,
perhaps something that spoke deeply to you,
perhaps something that feels uncomfortable.

Wait in openness. What is God showing you through this experience? Talk with God.

Closing prayer

We bring to God our hopes and dreams and possibilities,
all that is true gift and we offer it.