TOMORROW! "The Art of Spiritual Friendship" :: an urban retreat

Friday and Saturday, February 18-19, 2011 University Presbyterian Church, Fresno, California

Click here for a link to our PDF file of the brochure.

Living an alert spiritual life is demanding; no one can go it alone.  And in today's world, we are hungry for meaningful personal intimacy.  Friendships not only provide us with companionship, they keep us grounded, and give us guidance along the way.  This year's conference will focus on St. Aelred of Rievaulx and will explore biblical and historical witnesses to the gift friendship can be to the spirit.  David and Jonathan, Mary and Elizabeth, and nearer our time, JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis show us ways of joining together as soul friends as we walk the way of Christ in challenging times.

Led by Dr. Robert Hale of the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, Dr. Steve Varvis, interim provost and historian at Fresno Pacific University, and Dr. Chris Erdman.

• Begins Friday evening the 18th, 7pm

• Saturday morning through mid-afternoon the 19th

• $35 includes lunch; please pre-register to help us plan for lunch ($45 fee at the door). Mail your check by February 15th to University Presbyterian Church, 1776 E. Roberts Ave. Fresno, CA  93710.

• Contact the church office at 559.439.8807 for more information and to register.

• Monastery Bookstore with books, candles, icons, and other handcrafts from around the world.

• Click here for a link to our PDF file of the brochure.  Please forward to friends!

This conference is open to all, so please invite a friend and spread the word.

Prayer's not a contest but a doorway

Mary Oliver's meditation on the simplicity of true prayer: Praying

It doesn't have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones; just pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try to make them elaborate, this isn't a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which another voice may speak.

Constancy is the mother of habit

Saint Hesychius of Jerusalem writes: "There is but one task that we must hold before us and must always perform in the same manner---to call on Jesus Christ, our Lord, entreating Him with a burning heart that He would grant us to partake of and to taste the blessings of His Holy Name. For constancy is the mother of habit for both virtue and vice, and habit eventually takes over as second nature." A taste of heaven is not yet habit. But such a taste creates the desire for virtue.

Heaven is not up but in

Several years ago I told my therapist that I often felt disconnected from my limbs; they seemed to tremble inwardly as if always on alert. They felt to me like the floor rumbling whenever a big truck drives by on the street. It was as if they didn't belong to me at all. Then it was a symptom of stress. But in recent days, I've gradually noticed a new sensation beginning with my heart and the inner chest area. Today, I felt it in my limbs, especially my hands---like a gentle current of electricity. They feel so gloriously alive, as if every sinew and fiber is radiant with life. Aware of this, I feel close to tears. It's as if I am finding myself put back together, as if my parts---so long so far away, always busy elsewhere---have come home. The tears feel like tears of homecoming, arriving at that place of inexplicable peace after a very, very long and dangerous journey.

There is nothing, nada, on earth like this. I have touched heaven. And it is not up, but in.

Interior peace is fragile, requiring care

I feel the pull outside myself. Old drives and ambitions and fears scatter my inner poise. The poise of my interior life is fragile. Like a seedling, it requires care. Unceasing mental busyness has given way to unceasing prayer and concentration on the Divine Name, but the newness has shallow roots and needs time. I need time to grow deep roots that will sustain me in the second half of life.  The gate is narrow, yet I have entered it.  The path is hard and few find it, therefore I must be vigilant and uncompromising in my determination to walk it.