A 24-hour Retreat
At Rolling Ridge Study Retreat Community
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
How do we live with our daily experiences, the good and the bad? The proverbial wheat and tares co-mingled populate the landscape of human experiences. Indicators of flourishing beauty jostle with reminders of diverse disheartening evil, near and far away, often conveyed by a media intent on informing us daily.
Texts written by our ancient ancestors, as well as insights by modern literary scholars persuade us that our stories, poetry, and parables are essential to discovering meaning in our experiences. As noted by Professor Mark Turner, “Story, projection, and parable do work for us, they make everyday life possible, they are the root of human thought; most of our experience, our knowledge and our thinking are organized as stories—one story helps us make sense of another.”
Verle and Vivian have for many years reveled in reading and writing stories, poetry, and parables. They live at Rolling Ridge.
Retreat will begin with dinner at 7:00 pm on Friday and conclude with dinner at 6:00 pm on Saturday in the Retreat House. On Friday following dinner we will enjoy samples of story, poetry, and parable in which we may discover particular meanings.
On Saturday we will experience ample amounts of quiet time in favorite locations at Rolling Ridge, during which we will write stories, poems, or parables that reflect significant personal experiences. We have discovered that adults and youth together sometimes enjoy such a retreat experience. So, if you wish to do so we encourage adults to invite a youth to experience this retreat together.
The lodging accommodations in the Retreat House include bringing your own bedroll and towel. If this will be your first time at Rolling Ridge, consult the website for directions: www.rollingridge.net. The total retreat fee per person for this retreat is $50. For more information and to register contact Lindsay McLaughlin at lindsay.rollingridge@gmail.com, phone 304-724-1069. After June 20 contact Verle or Vivian at vvatrr@juno.com, phone 304-725-2312.
Blackberries
This drop of water
Airy molecules in fluid state
Bit of endless cycle—
Sky to earth to sea to sky—
This drop of water
Detoured on its way to the stream.
Filtered through last year’s leaves
Enticed by rootlets
Finds its way up and up and up
To living tip of blackberry cane
This drop of water
By living jar
of earthen molecules transformed
Color of life
Gladness of sweetness
Essence of summer
This drop of water
Behold!--Wine!
-Vivian, Summer 2001