A Quiet Winter Renewal

Bulletin Inserts for This Event (.pdf)

Flyer for this Event (.pdf)

Listen to the presences inside poems.
Let them take you where they will.
Follow those private hints,
And never leave the premises.
— Rumi

OVERNIGHT WINTER RETREAT

The Path of Poetry, A Portal to Healing

Poetry is a portal to the soul, a doorway through which one can step into the inner landscape of hidden mountains, rivers and great oceans. Whether through the contemplative process of reading or of writing, poetry safely opens us to the deeper voice that dwells within this landscape, the one that beckons to be heard, that yearns to be expressed, that holds the secret to our healing. Through the sacred space that is created in the reading and receiving of a poem, we will journey into this terrain, this inner realm where God and lost parts of self walk hand in hand. We will bring forth through the opening of poem-making a precious gift from the soul to the self. And we will explore how stillness and empathic listening deepen the healing potential of both the writing of poetry and the sharing of it in community.

No writing experience required. The language of the soul is perfect, it has no correctness.

"Truth is within. We must find a way for the imprisoned splendor to escape"
--Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Leader: Vicki Kensinger is a spiritual director and mother of 5 residing in Palmyra, PA, where she tends both her writing and her spiritual direction practice, Sacred Listening.(www.sacredlistening.org) She received her training through Oasis Ministries and is a member of their Board of Directors. She is also a volunteer and serves on the spiritual advisory board of SARCC in Lebanon County. Vicki has a particular passion for women's spirituality, poetry and the arts, gardening and nature, and is currently pursuing certification in poetry therapy.

Location: Mariawald Renewal Center, 1094 Welsh Road, Reading, PA 19607; (610)777-0135

DATES AND TIMES: 4:30 p.m., Friday, January 25, 2008
until 4:30 p.m. Saturday, January 26, 2008

FEE: Recommended range, $160-195; price includes supper Friday, a single room for Friday night and breakfast and lunch on Saturday.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: January 6, 2008

ADDITIONAL INFO: This event QUALIFIES for the requirement of a silent retreat for the SDSG program.

To Register: Please contact Betsy Keller
betsykeller@oasismin.org
or, 717-737-8222

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