How are you holding yourself amid the many challenges in our world today? How are you experiencing darkness and light, in the world around you and in yourself? As this year 2024 draws to a close, the tragedy of conflict and violence continues to unfold in many parts of the globe; several nations have held elections which threaten to divide rather than to unite; escalating climate change continues to impact our planet and its inhabitants, the most vulnerable suffering the most. How do we resist turning away from this suffering; with what frame of heart do we turn towards it? How can we allow our hearts to break open instead of to break apart? How do we find the courage to live with integrity, with purpose and with hope at this time?
The theme of this retreat series – Light in the Darkness – reflects the season of the year in the northern hemisphere. As we draw close to the shortest day, the invitation of this retreat is to tend the light within, to reflect on how we can show up with integrity and vulnerability in a troubled world. What lightens our way and gives us courage and hope? How might we shine in the world so as to offer courage and hope to others? The retreat will take inspiration from the Advent season of the Christian tradition, and is open to people of all faiths and none. The themes of Advent speak to our common humanity: themes of waiting and wondering, of doubting and hoping, of choosing to turn, however uncertainly, towards the light.
Over five weekly sessions, we will tend the light together, guided by the Courage & Renewal® approach. Together we will create a sacred, confidential space in which to do our own inner work in solitude and community. We will have the opportunity to listen generously to our inner teacher (soul, spirit, still small voice, inner voice, identity and integrity) and to one another in small groups and the whole group, speaking from the heart. A Circle of Trust® is enriched by metaphors, and we will reflect on “third things”: poetry, prose, images, video, and song. The quality of the space is shaped by the practices that everything we do is invitational, and there is no fixing, advising, saving, or correcting. Instead, listening generously and learning to ask open, honest questions open new doors in our relationships with self and others as we journey towards the light.
The Center for Courage & Renewal and its facilitators do not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, height, weight, physical or mental ability, veteran status, military obligations, and marital status.
