“I will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.”
Hosea 2:15
On Saturday August 17, the FCJ Christian Life Centre hosted a public lecture by Yvonne Prowse entitled ‘Experiencing Creation’s Wisdom’. This was followed by a silent 3-day retreat with the same theme. As the title suggests we were led through an experience of encounter with creation. Yvonne Prowse is an experienced retreat leader and currently the Director of Loretto Maryholme, a spirituality centre in Ontario.
Photo source: https://stlukesokc.org/inspiration/st-lukes-blogs/daily-evotional/baptism/attachment/one-hand-in-a-glass-bowl-of-water/
In both events we had the opportunity to focus on what we love about being alive in Earth at this time, and to reflect on experiences of awe and wonder, allowing our hearts to swell with gratitude. Following the movement of the Paschal Mystery, we were invited to focus on what brings pain, and grief, or what breaks our heart about living in Earth at this time. We shared our anxiety about the climate crisis, the pain felt at seeing the disorientation among the young, the loss of beautiful landscapes through fire or deforestation, and the lack of hope for the future. In a moving ritual we immersed our hands in a bowl of water symbolizing our tears for the Earth. Yvonne challenged us to honor this pain and grief and to take it to God. She reminded us that God takes what seems like utter failure and death and does something unexpected, something different, as God did in the Resurrection of Jesus. God has the power to transform our anxiety, pain, and grief into new life, or as it says in Hosea 2:15, to turn the valley of suffering and disaster into a door of hope.
We were invited to find ways of nurturing hope in our lives and our communities, and to remember the importance of deepening our relationship with the Earth by reading the Book of Nature much like we read the Scriptures, open to what God is revealing to us through creation. This leads us to see with new eyes and so go forth with hope. #
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