This last year I have done more retreats, meditation and quiet than I ever thought possible. Maybe it's directing a retreat center. Working with an online or in person retreat and experiencing one are often very different. It's like vacationing or living somewhere. The day to day stuff often gets in the way of seeing the beauty. The hustle and bustle distracts us from slowing down or stopping to enjoy the moment in front of us. I am learning how to bring the quiet moments into daily life through meditation, nature, slowing down, listening, sitting, walking, and reading, whenever and however I can. Sometimes it's a few moments, other times an hour or more. For me, sometimes it's the silence that leads to a conversation, to meditation, to another conversation where it all comes together. All are pieces of a puzzle or bridges, providing direction, as are each moment of talk, walk or the listening spaces in between. We are also connected to those here and now and those gone before us. The photo of the stone steps was taken at Bat Cave, North Carolina. They are the same steps that Mother Eva (founder of The Society of the Transfiguration http://anglicanhistory.org/women/evamary/ ) climbed to access the road to the vacation house a hundred years ago! Those steps connected me to her and everyone else who has been there. When entering a forest or place of worship, we can take with us into this new year, moments of silence that acknowledge the presence and gratitude that brought us here.
Peace,
Kate Bower, Director Transfiguration Spirituality Center
