retreat, monks and images - worship trick 22 [second series]

i spent yesterday at turvey abbey monastery invited by chris curtis to lead a day's retreat for youth workers from the LCET team. the monastery is a benedictine one. it made me think that i should book myself a day's retreat three times a year or something. i really haven't done enough of that for a while now... chris takes his team there 6 times a year.

anyway the stuff i led seemed to go really well. a friend sue once commented that each grace service can almost be like a mini retreat which i liked the thought of. so i think a lot of the stuff we do is very contemplative/reflective. anyway it seemed to go down well in a retreat setting. we did various things including using the examen. i had planned to lead some lectio divina but was relieved i didn't when brother tom who sat in on the afternoon session mentioned he did an hour and a half of it every day (although he confessed he found it difficult). i feared that what i led as lectio divina would be half baked compared to the real thing done by benedictine monks...

one thing i did that i thought went really well and i must use again (this was first inspired by anna who did somethng similar at a gracelet) was to use a set of images i had collected from postcards or art books. i laid them out and invited everyone to choose an image that struck them. they then had about 5 minutes to contemplate on the image. then in groups we discussed what struck us about the image and in what way it connected with our lives. this was the most simple thing but really enabled people to reflect on where they were at and then pray together. the kinds of images that i reckon work best for this sort of thing are ambiguous images. this is really simple but i am making it worship trick 22 [second series] partly for my own benefit so i remember it as an idea. i then used a few images from the caravaggio exhibition as a reflection on the passion of christ.

Technorati Tags: prayer, worship tricks, art

Comments

[Jonathon Norman]

I'm glad you had a good retreat. My buddy Gavin and I want to do pilgrimage at least twice a year to a benedictine monastery. So far we've been to St. Bernard's Abbey in Cullman Alabama. It was absolutely wonderful.

shalom

[Lillie Jenkins]

Was a great day -thank you! Reminded me about the existance of the examen which is revelatory always in one way or another. Images were a great way to allow God to speak and I definitely think we're going to be floating some boats in school!! Really recommend retreating in so many ways....do it!

Your session really reminded me of church I used to go to in Huddersfield called Sanctuary (: a safe place to worship God). It was about 10 or more years ago and way ahead of it's time in the alternative mould...I can't find any traces of it now but am sure the guys who ran it must be out there doing kingdom reviving stuff...would love to know?!

[Holly Hem]

Youth Specialties sells a collection of photos that invite meditation. It is a powerfull collection. Here is a link to their site.
http://shop.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/YouthSpecialties.storefront/