Last week I had the good fortune of being a presenter at a retreat sponsored by the Advent Center out of Mars Hill, NC. The Advent Center is a ministry that offers a place for folks to experience spirituality and forms of contemplative worship, centering prayer, and a variety of spiritual practices. It is inter-denominational and inter-faith although it has a defined Christian orientation. But, within it's Christian focus, it is very inclusive. The retreat was held at the Laurel Ridge Moravian Conference Center north of Wilkesboro, North Carolina - a beautiful conference center that is probably one of the best kept secrets in North Carolina...other then the Moravians...I'm sure they know about it.
The theme of the retreat was "A Story-Filled Life: Listening to and Living Into Our Stories." Essentially the focus was on acknowledging that our lives are shaped and formed by stories and that our life is, in fact, a living story. The question becomes - what is shaping and forming our personal story? Without a doubt, many forces, events, people, and places have formed and informed our personal stories. Some of these have been positive and some have not. The other piece to this retreat, then, was to connect up our personal stories with the Biblical story. Or, as Ron Martoia calls it, God's "Great Big Fat Story". In other words, how can God's story inform our personal stories and how can the great big story of the Biblical narrative inform our personal stories and journey? To this end, we are invited to listen to the Biblical story to see how it informs our story and where we are invited in.
In this retreat, we are invited to consider four areas that affect and impact our personal stories: events, places, people, and community. Each of these areas has the potential to have a significant impact on our personal story. And, in fact, they might already have. For my part, I sought to show how certain Biblical stories exemplified each of these areas. For example, the event of Jesus baptism and places such as Jacob wrestling with God or the woman at the well that interacted with Jesus. And, people such as Eli and Samuel or Ruth and Naomi. Each of these Bibical stories exemplified these areas and reminded us that we have had events, places, people, and even communites that have shaped our story. To this end, it was a few days of truly hearing people's stories and exploring our own stories.
I want to add what a fantastic job the leadership team of Amy Jennings, Stephanie Ford, and Paula Dempsey did in planning such a spiritually enriching event. I have spoken at events before but this was a first time of not only giving but receiving! A huge part of what enriched me were the worship times organized around the Daily Office. We had morning, noon, late afternoon, and evening prayes. It was a nice way to add a spiritual rhythm to our lives. This was a gift to me. Having come off a very hectic schedule prior to the retreat, the pace of the worship times, the music, and the intentional focus on prayer, centering, and seeking the Living Christ was like cool water to a parched soul.
I will have more to say about this retreat and it's theme but I would encourage everyone to check out the Advent Center and all it has to offer. These are wonderful folks offering a wonderful ministry that truly exemplifies hospitality. You can find out more about them at www.adventcenter.org
I close with this quote from Sue Monk Kidd: "A personal spiritual story is the narration of the unique movements of the human soul. At the deepest level we are stories being told by the Storyteller. Yet we are called to participate with God in the telling of our own tale, to become co-story-tellers, discovering and shaping our individual stories, and in doing so, enriching God's universal story."
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