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February 01, 2009
Discerning Vocations: Circles of Trust Retreat-Day1
This weekend, I was in the North Carolina Mountains for a retreat on holy listening at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly. I was invited by one of our recent Calling Congregations grantees, John Knox Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC. A small band of members led by Joseph Gaston, an associate minister at the church, had come to the mountains to experiment with Parker Palmer’s Circles of Trust as a congregational practice for vocational discernment.
Twenty-two people trekked up to Black Mountain from the foothills of South Carolina and Georgia to explore how to listen for God and to discover their sense of call. Reminiscence of biblical heroines—Moses, Elijah and Jesus—who escaped to the mountains to find solace with God, this inclusive group of heroine and sheroines travelled to the Blue Ridge searching for what we all are in search of, namely, God’s purpose for our lives. While we did not find a burning bush, we did discover in ourselves what Macrina Widerkehr calls a Child of Wonder. The poem’s refrain reminded us to:
“Take off your shoes
The ground you stand on is holy
The ground you are is holy.”
This holy ground provided a context and space for fellow sojourners to practice an alternative way of being with each other that supported their mutual search for meaning in their lives. The Circles of Trust retreat, in a large part, was the container that enabled authentic encounters take place between people. And you might ask what are Circles of Trust? They are retreats hosted by facilitators of the Center for Courage and Renewal that are designed to:
Focus on deep listening: within ourselves, to each other, to the call that invites us to speak from the soul
Provide a place for discernment about questions of meaning, purpose, calling, service, and ministry
Explore practices that help sustain spirit and vocational vitality
Provide a unique opportunity to explore the intersection of soul and role
Create a safe and trustworthy community that supports us in our inner journey and strengthens us for our work in the world
Provide needed time for silence and solitude
The first day of the retreat focused a great deal of time on the importance of listening to our lives. I was struck by the power of certain questions as a way for moving people to an authentic place for self-reflection. I became more aware that good questions can be a significant tool to till the ground of our lives and to make way for vocational sprouts that will eventually spring forth in our lives. So let me leave with you three questions that we were asked as you reflect on your own efforts to listen deeply to your life:
When have you truly listened in life?
When have you refused to listen?
When have you risked being forever changed?
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