Water

"Pilgrimage is not just in the seeing: more important, it's in the listening.

Sometimes the only way transformation can occur is

if we sit silently and allow the inner journey to unfold."

Tom Maddix,

Running Scared: The Call of Pilgrimage

I took a break to rest a bit after a busy month of travelling in April and May.  It was great to take time to simply rest.  

I spent a week at Five Oaks Retreat Centre in the first week of May to continue on my sabbatical journey. Solitude and service were two themes for this particular journey. I was working as a host to greet various individuals and groups sojourning at Five Oaks. 

Jackie Childerhose, director of Grand River Spiritual and Educational Resources recommended Running Scared, Tom Maddix's book on Pilgrimage, as I was browsing through books one afternoon.

Reading Maddix's account of his pilgrimages of sacred sites around the world helped me to understand more about pilgrimage.  Reading books on Sabbath and pilgrimage while I am on sabbatical seems to connect me more deeply on deep listening.  

Some of what Maddix shares:

     "While the tourist may go to the same place to see the outer reality, the pilgrim is focused on the inner and symbolic

      reality of the place."

     "Being on pilgrimage is about noticing what happens outside and inside us."

     "I went into church hungry and came out starving."

     "If we are to find a new harmony in our lives, we must change how we live and seek more coherence between our

      inner and outer selves."

     "Our dreams help shape every part of our lives."

Here are some images of water I saw through the lens as I walked around Five Oaks.  Photography can be a way of deep listening.

I have been working with Toronto Conference staff and volunteers on the visual presentation for the upcoming Toronto Conference Annual Meeting on May 25-26 in Orillia, Ontario. It was challenging to find and provide images that would reflect and support the ideas and images in scriptures and hymns that will be used at the gathering. It was also exciting to implement my sabbatical research into a concrete project. 

I have selected about 50 images of my photos for the gathering. A few more images will be photographed on the first day of the meeting to include in the presentation on the second day.

I will be able to share the presentations and accompanying images after the Annual Meeting.