CANCELLED: The Lord Your Shepherd Silent Directed Retreats
One-night and two-night options available
"The Lord is your Shepherd... You shall not want... He makes you lie down in green pastures. He leads you beside the still waters. He restores your soul." Psalm 23:1-2
March Practice: From Rush to Replenish
As many Christians engage in the observance of Lent, we are drawn to two reflections that offer wisdom for these times and practices any of us can engage in, regardless of our faith.
Opening our hearts and beginning again: “Lent is a call to weep for what we could have been and are not…” wrote Sister Joan Chittister in 2011. “Lent is not about penance. Lent is about becoming, doing and changing whatever it is that is blocking the fullness of life in us right now.”
Inspiration from Artists
Writers, artists, and musicians share their thoughts on kindness, forgiveness, "home," and other ways to connect with our inner lives.
Practice: Binding Together
From the founding moments of our country, people from different faith traditions, and no faith at all, have put their deepest values into action to serve the common good. Their stories and their legacy, which is often religiously and spiritually grounded, can help bind together the various identities represented in our nation.
—Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC)
With this practice, we acknowledge and honor the efforts of young leaders and peacemakers who are endeavoring to heal cultural, religious, and political divides.
The Future of Spiritual Care
In December 2019, the Fetzer Institute hosted a small meeting for the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab. They met to talk about the present and future of spiritual care in many places. Together, we explored how we might move into a future with better spiritual care. We recognized that all have a right to care for their human spirit, no matter who or where they are. For three days, we focused on a few key parts of today’s sacred landscape. We talked about how these parts might inform the future of chaplaincy.
January Practice: Pause
Many Americans highly value professional achievement, which is reflected in such democratic virtues as the pursuit of excellence, determination, assertiveness, and love of learning and knowledge. At the same time, momentarily setting aside an achievement orientation helps us tune into deeper currents of wisdom that strengthen democratic virtues like adaptability, honesty, humility, integrity, and social conscience.
Hot Gravy
As the year comes to a close, we’ve been reflecting on moments that have touched us and buoyed our spirits. “Hot Gravy,” a story of hope and healing, redemption and forgiveness, captures one such moment.
Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story, Film Screening and Discussion
An Evening with Acclaimed Documentarian Martin Doblmeier
How to describe Dorothy Day? Grandmother, anarchist, prophet, journalist, pacifist, saint? The FBI once considered her a threat to national security. Now the Catholic Church is considering her for sainthood.
December Practice: Listen with Respect
The idea that all of us are created equal, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, means that everyone deserves respect. We can practice being respectful at home first by listening to our own wisdom and the ideas of others and then by staying informed and expressing our opinions.
Omar McRoberts on the Landscape of Religion, Spirituality, and Identity in America
Omar M. McRoberts, PhD, is an advisor to Fetzer’s Study of Spirituality in America, which comprises in-depth interviews and focus groups (both completed) and a survey that will be fielded in early 2020. Omar recently co-presented “The Changing Landscape of Religion, Spirituality, and Identity in America” workshop at Upswell 2019.