Rugged Beauty and Creative Spirit

Since my last posting, I have continued to be on the go -- spending four days in the Phoenix area with my uncle and aunt, both of whom are artists: my uncle is the organist/musical director at St. John's Lutheran Church, Glendale, and my aunt is a visual artist as well as the choral director at the Lutheran Church

My trip, although brief, was filled with sharing family stories and seeing some really interesting sites. On Day One there, my uncle and I went to the Phoenix Art Museum for a Cézanne and Moderism exhibit, visited a spire designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (rejected by the city of Phoenix so it now stands in the Scottsdale area) along with sculpture by Heloise Crista, and popped into a couple of bookstores ranging from Judaica to metaphysics! The next day we "toodled" over to Sedona where the red rocks created by residue of iron oxide are so magnificent that they're indescribable! There we visited a Buddhist stupa appreciating the beauty of design as well as the ideology! Sedona is known for its wonderful art and sculpture gallerys, some of which we saw. On a trip up to the edge of one of the mountains to visit the Chapel of the Holy Cross, we passed a MONSTEROUS house -- 8,178 sq. feet, with a 4-car garage, a water-fall and English gardens, and an observatory on top -- sitting amongst the saguaro cactus, rocks and sagebrush! Supposedly it originally cost $26 million and was built by the guy who invented the laser for lasik eye surgery. In the evening we were treated to "Pasta & Puccini" as we enjoyed an event sponsored by the 4-year old Phoenix Opera, having good Italian food and hearing a wonderful soprano and tenor share some of Puccini's most familiar arias.

On my last day we attended the Maitreya Project Heart Relics tour at a Unity Church in Mesa. It was quite an experience and an insightful peek into the devotion and ritual of Buddhism.

My time in Phoenix made me hungry for more time with this particular part of my family -- as we have so much in common and get to spend so little time together!

And for the last four days I've been immersed in a Creative Spirit Paper Collage retreat led by a PHENOMINALLY gifted, spirit-graced young artist by the name of Melanie Weidner at Pendle Hill a Quaker retreat center up near Philadelphia. There were 14 of us from all over the Eastern Region, as well as one young woman who flew all the way from Germany (!) for the retreat!. Each session, beginning Sunday evening, started with a circle of sharing and meditation. From there Melanie led us through the process of collage starting us off with the simple process of finger-painting!! Imagine being given permission to PLAY again in finger-paints! And it was incredible to see the images that emerged. Now, let me be clear that many of the women there were "trained" artists -- others of us were "emerging" artists -- so some of the images were more polished than others, but EACH of them expressed an element of Spirit moving through them. As each day progressed, we added layers --a layers of materials to our collages and layers of meaning to the relationships we were building with each other and with Spirit. Melanie is so gifted in opening the window into how we receive and give of the Spirit through our art that the hours seemed to stand still as we breathed deep of all that the moments held. Melanie shared with us much of her own work which you need to see at listenforjoy.com>! One she did in 2005 entitled "Deep Breath", was especially motivating as each of us resonated with that deep breath of Spirit.

Yesterday we concluded our time together, and I'll have to say that for the last "official" event of my sabbatical, it was one I won't forget. There aren't words adequate enough to share it in this blog -- hopefully, I'll get to share it with some of you in person soon!

Let me add that Pendle Hill is an incredible retreat and education center! Sitting in the woods, off a residential area close to Media, PA, it offers wonderfully historical 19th century buildings, quiet rooms and accomodations, well-maintained grounds with a variety of trees and plants, PLENTIFUL libraries and reading areas, and healthy foods served buffet-style (most of the time). I even survived as a vegetarian for four days!! (But had to have a little meat when I got home last night :) Each day begins with breakfast and then "Meeting in Worship" which actually decribes the congregation (the "Meeting") as they gather in community ("Worship") and, as is the Quaker way of worship, sits in silence for about 30 minutes (unless someone is moved by Spirit to speak). At the conclusion, Worship ends when the Elder shakes another's hand and offers Peace. They then exchange prayer concerns, announcements, and as the gathering disburses, some may stay to sing. The classes offered at Pendle Hill are well-organized and cover a wide range of interests and topics. I encourage you to take advantage of their gracious hospitality if you ever get the chance!

As for the days ahead, no more travelling -- I will rest, reflect, write, and admittedly, finish some "housework" on my list... then will conclude this magical, incomprehensible gift of sabbatical with some time at the beach.

Until next posting,Blessings!
Cheryl