Join our final retreat for Ordinary Time next week?
TLDR: Our third and final Rhythms of Grace retreat happens October 14, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm (Eastern). Join me for two hours of guided prayer, silence, and reflection on how we can live in Jesus’ unforced rhythms of grace for fruitful work and refreshing rest.
We’ll meet 40 minutes for guided prayer, silence, and scripture reading, 40 minutes for individual reflection (offline) with the help of simple prompts included in the downloadable retreat guide, and 40 minutes for group spiritual direction with space for guided response and Q & A.
Dear friends,
In Jeremiah 29, the prophet, writing to the exiled in Babylon, encourages his compatriots to not get sidetracked by rumors of a quick return to Jerusalem. He counsels them instead to live deeply into the rhythms for work and rest in the middle of their new, unfamiliar environment. If he’d been a greeting card designer, he might have sent a postcard with the words “Bloom where you’re planted” in a flowery font. Thankfully, he was a messenger from God gifted with passion and eloquence and what we have instead of a postcard platitude is the gorgeous vision cast in Jeremiah 29.
In the conclusion of Jeremiah’s vision for a people of God to seek the welfare of whatever location they’re inhabiting, verse 11 offers one of the most profound promises in all of Scripture: God’s plans for us are for a “future with hope.”
How can we interpret Jeremiah’s vision casting for our own lives today? How do God’s plans for a future and a hope for us impact the ways we approach our work and rest? Is it possible that both work and rest are God’s gifts to us no matter our location or circumstances?
The invitation to watch and walk and work with Jesus is, at its heart, an invitation to live into the vision Jeremiah casts for exiled Israel. Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension bridge the gap of our longings for fruitful work and refreshing rest. Whether we're aware of it or not, we are being formed by insufficient human philosophies around us. In gathering to listen, pray, and respond to the invitation of Jesus, we become intentional about laying down the exhausting, self-referential burdens of work and insatiably restless rest the world offers in order to work and rest freely and lightly in the economy of Christ’s kingdom for the sake of the whole world.
We’ll meet 40 minutes for guided prayer, silence, and scripture reading, 40 minutes for individual reflection (offline) with the help of simple prompts included in the downloadable retreat guide, and 40 minutes for group spiritual direction with space for guided response and Q & A. Register for one, two, or all three retreats.
OCTOBER 14: Enjoy Work & Rest
11:30 am - 1:30 pm (Eastern)
Tending to fruitful work and refreshing rest: vocation, stewardship, sabbath, beauty, and thanksgiving.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
retreat series guidebook (pdf) with simple practices and prompts
guidance for spiritual practices that you’ll continue to cultivate as the retreat series unfolds
instructions for making your own Neighborhood prayer walk to align your intercession with your outer landscape
a virtual contemplative retreat led by a trained spiritual director and experienced facilitator
one free month of membership to Daybook Meditations for additional Scripture, prayer, playlists and practices for Ordinary Time
ideas to help you to continue to integrate the themes of World & Church, Neighbor & Self, and Work & Rest into your everyday life
access to recorded livestream so you can revisit or use as a self-guided retreat
Let’s take Jesus up on his invitation to watch, and walk, and work with him in unforced rhythms of grace.
Click here if you’d prefer to purchase all three retreats with one transaction.
I find deep joy offering virtual retreats to help you create space to listen to Jesus and your own heart.
The Rhythms of Grace retreat series this summer and the Spiritual Practices for Living as an Antiracist Person last summer have offered a rich and meaningful connection for those who’ve participated. I’ve loved watching a small community of folks from around the United States (and occasionally from outside the U.S.) gather to receive care for their souls in the safe and quiet space we’ve created in A Sacramental Life Community. It might surprise you, but I hope you can trust me when I say that you can trust this community and the guidelines we’ve created for interaction to honor you at whatever point you find yourself in your spiritual journey.
I’m confident this community offers a bit of extra companionship as you continue to grow more like Jesus and more like the true selves God has created you to be.
Specifically, I hope that in the time you spend with us, you’ll grow in your capacity to pay attention, become curious, and move toward the ongoing invitations of God.
If this sounds good to you beyond just one retreat, I invite you to join A Sacramental Life Community each month throughout the year.
As a Community member
You’ll receive access to a two-hour retreat via Zoom each month (usually on the first Thursday at 11:30 am - 1:30 pm Eastern time). Each live event will be recorded and include 40 minutes for guided prayer, silence, and scripture reading, 40 minutes for individual reflection (offline) with the help of simple prompts, and 40 minutes for group spiritual direction with space for guided response and Q & A.
You will also have exclusive access to a variety of specially-created resources (including all of our previous retreat guides) to help you grow more like Jesus and more like the true selves God has created you to be.
You’ll have access to downloadable guidebooks and printed resources to encourage you in spiritual practices for your everyday life.
Your seat will always be saved at the membership price of $17/month for any of the virtual retreats I offer.
If you are a Daybook Meditations member also, you’ll have time to sink more deeply into the devotional guides you receive each week.
You’ll grow in your ability to offer spiritual companionship in other areas of your life as together we embrace basic guidelines for a particular kind of hospitable and open-ended listening.
Your capacity to trust God and safe others will increase as we assist one another in being more attentive and responsive to God’s presence in all of life.
You’ll have help creating regular space each month for yourself and others by receiving care for your soul.
Offering A Sacramental Life Community membership is a culmination of several areas that God’s called me to come alongside others, like me, who long to faithfully worship God, love people, and enjoy beauty in our everyday lives. This is the second year of companioning each other as a virtual community and I’ve been tweaking and improving the offering based on the invaluable feedback of our members. Thank you to each one who’ve trusted me in this work so far!
While the membership is always open, I find the beginning of the liturgical year a meaningful time to begin. Think of it as a sort of New [Liturgical] Year’s resolution! During Ordinary Time, Advent, and Lent, we invite guests to join our retreat and the rest of the year, the retreats are open to members only. Perhaps you’d like to join us now in order to join us on October 14 at the membership price of $17?
Yes—we’re gathering next week. That's Thursday, October 14. The community doors are open for this retreat and all are welcome! So register now and begin moving with us toward the ongoing invitations of Jesus to live freely and lightly in his unforced rhythms of grace.
May you know that you are welcomed, loved, and respected here, and may you sense the nearness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in each encounter.
Tamara
P.S. Is this invitation to A Sacramental Life membership for you? If it's calling you—the doors are open! Join today to get your seat at the October 14 retreat as well as our monthly retreats going forward.