Oasis - Gerald May Retreat Day

A Gerald May Day: Transforming Attachments into Love

Come apart for a day to celebrate the life and works of Gerald May at Still Waters on the Conodoguinet Creek. Gerald May (1940-2005) practiced medicine and psychiatry for twenty-five years before becoming a senior fellow in contemplative theology and psychology at Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. He authored many books blending spirituality and psychology, including Addiction and Grace, The Awakened Heart, Care of Mind/Care of Spirit, Will and Spirit, and The Wisdom of Wilderness. Our day together will be a blend of contemplating selected writings, time for retreat into solitude and silence, and time for shared dialogue.

Leadership: Sanford Alwine has had a therapy, counseling and spiritual direction practice in Carlisle, PA, for many years. He has facilitated programs in spiritual formation and direction with Oasis Ministries for over fifteen years, and also worked with Kairos School of Spiritual formation teaching contemplative spirituality. He studied with Gerald May at Shalem Institute and "considers him among the most authentically real persons to have walked this journey we call Life." Sanford and his wife, Lois, are co-directors of Still Waters Retreat House, a place dedicated to nurturing the contemplative life.

Location: Still Waters Retreat House

501 West Slate Hill Road

Carlisle, PA 17013

(717) 243- 8994

Date & Times: Friday, October 14, 2011;
9:30am-3:30pm

Retreat Fee: $75-$95 (as you are able) - Lunch is provided.

Registration Deadline: October 1, 2011

click here to register or contact Betsy Keller at 717.737.8222; betsykeller@oasismin.org

"There is a desire within each of us,
in the deep center of ourselves
that we call our heart.
We were born with it,
it is never completely satisfied,
and it never dies.
We are often unaware of it,
but it is always awake.

It is the Human desire for Love.
Every person in this Earth yearns to love,
to be loved, to know love.
Our true identity, our reason for being
is to be found in this desire.

Love is the "why" of life,
why we are functioning at all.
I am convinced
it is the fundamental energy
of the human spirit.
the fuel on which we run,
the wellspring of our vitality.

And grace,
which is the flowing,
creative activity, of love itself,
is what makes all goodness possible.

Love should come first,
it should be the beginning of,
and the reason for everything."

~ Gerald May (Living in Love)

"Peace is not something you can force on anything or anyone... much less upon one's own mind. It is like trying to quiet the ocean by pressing upon the waves. Sanity lies in somehow opening to the chaos, allowing anxiety, moving deeply into the tumult, diving into the waves, where underneath, within, peace simply is."

~ Gerald May (Simply Sane: The Spirituality of Mental Health)