Welcome to our Annual Summer Retreat, posted here as a mini-online retreat for you. As the woman at the well went at noon to be refreshed and gather water for the day, so we must return readily to our own Divine wellspring. Our time together will provide an opportunity to drink fully from the well that is Benedictine Spirituality.
By Benedictine Sisters Mary Core and Stefanie MacDonald
If you ever feel overwhelmed by the high-tech, multi-choice, break-neck-fast demands of our culture, take a breath and listen:
You can slow down. Simplify.
Simplicity is one of the most important values in a centered, well-grounded life.
It calls us to the everyday. The ordinary. The good and holy:
The sunrise. The sunset. New life as it blooms and grows. A robin’s song. A toddler’s grin. A neighbor’s wave. A hug.
Simplicity calls us to BE. To value what we have and not always want more.
It shifts our concern from success – or what our culture determines leads to success – to faithfulness.
It shifts our desire for convenience to a desire for wholesomeness.
It reminds us that relationships – and not fancy toys – are what’s important in life.
Simplicity frees us to let go of the unnecessary and superficial, whether power or grudges, excess materials or our sense of “this is mine, not yours.”
It encourages us to ask ourselves, “How do I – or can I – share the many resources I have? How can I avoid falling in the trap of wanting more?”
Simplicity is rooted in the ordinary … but makes room for the extraordinary.
How can you simplify, to make room for the extraordinary in your life?
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