On the winding, wooded road up into Dayspring, I was stopped and greeted by a wee chipmunk, and then by the smiling face of a fellow retreatant driving by.  As I was calmed and quieted by the peace and familiarity of this holy place and its natural, breathtaking beauty, I happily looked forward to spending the weekend with eleven other people steeped in silence and nature and the Divine.

Friday dinner was a joy in getting to know each other a bit before the silent part began. Then an introduction into the Beatitudes, in their English translation, then back into various translations in Jesus's native tongue.  And what depths of meaning we discovered in that!  We mostly used the book "Prayers of the Cosmos" by Neil Douglas-Klotz--yes he's the one whose translation of The Lord's Prayer we use sometimes at our Sacred Gatherings!  Our retreat leader, Connie Ridgway taught us how to chant some of the words in Aramaic.  We were also encouraged to be aware as we breathe in and breathe out, that we are "breathing the one breath of the Universe" (Hildegarde of Bingen).  The session closed with a brief time of silent meditation.

Saturday there were two more sessions with Connie on the Beatitudes and lots of time on our own.  Then just before lunch on Sunday we had a deep sharing of our spiritual journeys and a Eucharist which was so similar to our Sacred Gatherings! 

Here's one example of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:6.