Resting While Doing and Resting While “Just Being”

At the Art, Vocabulary for the Soul Retreat last weekend, we contemplated “Resting in Jesus” and responded with paintings, poetry, song writing and just being in community together. It was so beautiful! This group of eleven was great and we felt so blessed to have spent the weekend together.

We were also honored to have Rev. Larry Lindoff and his wife Colleen join us as special guests this time. Larry shared with us on Saturday his own journey of understanding “Resting in Jesus.” He reflected on the Mary and Martha story (Luke 10:38-42) ... Martha gets a lot of flak. Martha was distracted.

What if it wasn’t the doing that was the problem, but how she was “worried and distracted” as she was doing it. If she slowed down and was able to be present to Jesus’ teaching as she worked would it have been the same? What if we can restfully do our work, being present to the situation we are in; not going at the frantic, hectic pace our world seems to thrive on?

I appreciated that thought. I have been listening to Russ Hudson, a teacher of the Enneagram. He talks a lot about being present, and slowing down enough to feel present as we are “doing.”

But sometimes we do need to “just be,” like Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus.

“When I am constantly running there is no time for being. When there is no time for being there is no time for listening.”
― Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

Several years ago, I took a personal retreat at King’s Fold. It had been a busy time and I was feeling exhausted. I found that all I could do was sit on the benches and look at the view. It was the first time I really understood what Madeleine L’Engle described as “being time.” No agenda, no thoughts, no books, no “should’s, or “have to”s, just being, just “here I am, resting.” I found that all I could do was just sit there and be quiet with God. I was too exhausted in my spirit to do anything else. It was an anomaly.

As we listened to the scriptures last weekend particularly the one about not worrying because God will provide as he does for the birds of the air and lilies of the field (Matt 6:25-34), I heard from God to “Just Be.” So, when we sent people out to listen, I went out on a bench and sat in the sunshine to just rest and sit in God’s presence and napped in the sunshine until lunchtime. It gave me the energy to be present to each of the people I was teaching and sharing with in the long afternoon session. 

Later, as I was cleaning up, a simple melody came with simple praise words. I believe it came out of my content and joyful sense of being at rest that I was experiencing during the retreat. The song has been continuing to play in my mind as I work this week.

It is nice to feel at rest and not frantic while doing or being.

I am so thankful that we were able to have our Art Vocabulary for the Soul Retreat at the end of June. King’s Fold Retreat Centre did a great job in putting in place social distancing, and alternative set ups to make it work. We had a small group of seven. I want to share with you some of the theme and images we made as we worked through the it, listening to what God had for each one of us.

The theme of New Life had been resonating in me since before Covid-19 struck. It was a theme of the dark and death of winter moving into the new life and resurrection of spring.

When we went into self isolation, and everything was battened down and restricted, I kept wondering how it would feel when we started to emerge again. Would it be like the image portrayed in the movies where a big catastrophe happens and when it stops people come out slowly as if waking from a nightmare and start to slowly move and embrace one another and picking up the pieces of their lives.

With the three stages of emergence, our picking up the pieces has been a slow process. We are still in the pandemic. It has not been eradicated, there were new cases in Edmonton again. It is still rampaging around in other parts of the world.

Then, in the last few weeks before our retreat, with the murder of George Floyd, the wave of worldwide protests and the outcry of justice and humane treatment for not only the blacks, but the indigenous and the people of color, we were again in the midst of a movement we didn’t understand and don’t know the end of.

There was a sense of death to the ways we have always done things, and we are trying to figure out how to change, to do things differently. Change can bring fear, but also optimism and a whole host of other feelings.

Our first exercise addressed the emotions we have been experiencing since mid March. We used tempera paints with sponges, fingers, plastic cards, q-tips and toothbrushes. What do you see in the paintings?

The next exercise we read Psalm 107: 1-21 and reflected on the Israelites continual falling away and coming back to God; death and resurrection. As we celebrate resurrection one of the things always included in resurrection, is the death that comes beforehand. So, we had participants reflect on that experience of death and resurrection or seeing good things and even transformation come out of some of the difficult times in life. The following were our painting responses.

Saturday and Sunday, we spent time creating and seeing where the creativity took us. I took a few pictures to give you a taste of the creativity abounding in the weekend. I also introduced some new pouring methods and we had fun experimenting.

Registration is now open for the next Art Vocabulary for the Soul Retreat, October 2-4, 2020 at King's Fold Retreat Centre. It will be a small group of 8. 5 spaces are still available.  $375 early bird until Sept 4. $435 after Sept 4. Will you join us?

Art Vocabulary for the Soul Retreat

Connecting with God Through the Arts

Two unique retreats June and October in 2016

Time : Friday, 6:30 pm to  Sunday, 3 pm

Do you have a creative inclination? Are you thirsty for God? Do you want to learn how to connect with God creatively? Do you think: "How can I use my creativity to connect with God?" How do you listen to God, hear his voice? Are you looking for new ways to connect and listen to God?

This retreat is for artists, would be artists, and for those who are curious about art and faith.  Students will be encouraged to create in the art of their choice -- painting, writing, photography, dance, etc. Instruction for watercolor and drawing will be provided for those who desire it. Supplies are availbale for a nominal fee. Coaching for the other painting mediums and writing will also be available. There will be solitude and group time in the schedule. King's Fold is a beautiful location in the foothills along Ghost River.

Retreat Presenters:

Artist Julie Drew and Sam Drew.

June 25-27, 2016  

location: King'sfold Retreat and Renwal Center

Cost:

$375  by April 30, 2016
$400 after April30, 2016

$65 extra for a single room

Refund Policy: Refunds of all payments except a $50 deposit available until June 1, 2016.
No refunds after June 1, 2016.

Cost covers accomodation in a beautiful location, 3 meals on Saturday and 2 on Sunday, and the program.

Poster of the Art Vocabulary for the Soul Retreat

Brochure of the Art Vocabulary for the Soul Retreat

October 28-30, 2016 (Theme: Saturation)

location: King'sfold Retreat and Renwal Center

Cost:

$360  by July 30, 2016
$410 after  July 30, 2016

$65 extra for a single room

Refund Policy: Refunds of all payments except a $50 deposit available until Oct. 1, 2016.
No refunds after Oct. 1, 2016.

Cost covers accomodation in a beautiful location, 3 meals on Saturday and 2 on Sunday, and the program.

Being around creative people sparks creativity.
Creativity relieves us of our burdensome self consciousness.
Creativity connects us to our heart and relationship with reality.
The sense of meaning and delight in creativity has more to do with the process than the end product. Find in the process what you want to communicate and find out something deeper about yourself. 
                                                                   

 - Russ Hudson, Enneagram and Creativity Online Class, Monday, February 28, 2022                                           

 

As I listened to Russ Hudson during the monthly online class I am taking on the Enneagram and Creativity, I resonated with these descriptions of creativity and  with the following parts of the Point Three perspective.

Three’s will work hard to develop their skill, and stick to goals, but threes need to let the process lead them and not the goals. Slow down, if you are in a rush you are not present. 

Art has been and still is, a saving grace for me as a Three. It has been a place to retreat into, to work out my feelings and work through fears. It has been a way to explore new things, new thoughts. Not just in my own art, but the art others produce; paintings, stories, poetry, music and dance that have inspired me to further my own journey to unknown depths in myself and my relationship with the One who Created me.

In my newsletter and blog posts over the years, I have shared some of this journey. I sometimes spend months on a theme that I feel needs exploring. Sometimes it is something I need to revisit when it comes up again. We are works in progress and like an onion, we peel off layers and find more to see within.

I asked Russ Hudson during the class about getting past the pain of failure, and why one negative voice will shut me down even amidst a large quantity of accolades. Russ encouraged me on a journey back to the heart to sit with and walk through the pain and sadness, giving time, attention and space to reframe, letting a new work spring up, allowing it to reshape what I was working on, even taking it in a direction I had not anticipated.

As I reflected on this, I remembered that although I didn’t complete to publication the book I had been working on, “Waiting on the Lord: An Artist’s Journey,” I did include some of it as I reworked and expanded the God is my Refuge Devotional book in 2017. I have since learned more about waiting and have come to realize the book wasn’t ready to be complete yet. Afterall, I have more to learn about waiting. If you were to word search ‘waiting’ on my website (and scroll down the page for the results), you will see it is a theme I still come back to. It isn’t done with me yet. I find this encouraging. Once I pass through enough layers, maybe I will be able to write it again or something new.

At our Art, Vocabulary for the Soul Retreat, we give attendees space and a starting point in which they can explore their own journey. Like the descriptions of creativity above, we also create for the joy of creating, entering the peace that can come from play and being present to our selves and our surroundings. King’s Fold Retreat Centre is in the foothills of the Rockies overlooking the Ghost River valley.

This retreat is for those who wish to explore how art can speak to them and through them. How it can have a voice that helps one to understand one's self. How the process of creating can be life giving.

All are welcome whether you think of yourself as creative or not. All art mediums are welcome to be used, such as painting, drawing, poetry, writing, song writing, music, and photography.

Will you join us this year?

Three spots left to for this year's retreat. sign up today. Payment plans available. A bursary is available to those in financial need.

Too far to drive? Calgary is the nearest airport and transportation options from the airport can be discussed with King’s Fold staff.