(Please Read: Google has reintroduced the thumbnails at the
bottom of the photos after you double click on any image which will bring up
the photos in full screen. All photographs are mine unless otherwise noted.)
I am back from an eight day retreat in the Jesuit House that goes by the name of "Eastern Point" located in Gloucester Massachuettes. It is a fifty plus room house where myself, forty seven other retreatants and the staff spent the days in silence, with the exception of daily Mass and meetings with a Spiritual Director once a day. Over the years I have done many retreats of this duration where I treasure the silence and the chance to meet God by seeing more clearly where I block God out from daily life in the busyness of the world we live in.
Most people I tell of this kind of experience seem somewhat apalled by the idea of spending so much time in silence. In actuality this is an easy retreat to go through as books, journals, CD players with earphones, and the house itself with many places to comtemplate along with magnificent grounds to walk and enjoy make it a generally good experience. The Buddhist retreats on the other hand are something that I am not ready to try. Nothing is allowed for a minium of ten days (the basic starter retreat) by way of books, journals or any writing materials, and the days are spent in meditation - sitting and walking, in complete silence. For me, a yet to try event if I become ready to take the advice of my mentors in Buddhism and go on such a retreat.
I did work the directions of a course I am taking on "Photography As A Christian Contemplative Practice." A few of the photos I took in this context are posted this week. The first picture is the house I was in so you can see something of the place. The rest are about looking and trying to see something of the "Reality" of what is always in front of me. A parting of some of the veils so to speak. I added several poems I wrote while there by way of something of an explanation of where I was at in my ponderings.
The House
Five A.M. from the window of my room.
-
Thinking –
In
the Howling Storm of Love,
Of
what use is the intellect –
Analyze
what?
Reason
what?
Annihilation
in this Weather
Is
the opening of the heart –
Allowing
God to escape from the tomb we built
By
opening the long closed doors that never had a key.
Think
less, be often.
Bill Lagerstrom, May 15, 2013
Waiting for the internal weather to ease up.
- Refuge -
God has put me in the
Refuge of Confusion.
A strange country, full of
unknown and known Truths,
All in The Image of The One
who once chased me down dark streets –
The Face of the Love, the
Lover I now seek.
Deliverance from chains
that bound me to myself,
Standing at the door of
God's Very Self –
Myself, messy, confused,
an unsightly life,
Brought here against my idea of comfort, into God's
Discomfort.
This is God's Presence?
"Yes."
Why am I disoriented?
"Yes."
Is this You Lord?
"You tell me."
Bill Lagerstrom, May-15-2013
Even in the seeming dark places of our internal landscape
we can find wonders of beauty and light
Simplicity
Weathering the storm
is the act of hanging on,
staying rooted,
and
standing face into the wind.
------------------------------
Some Humor:
The Old Dog Bill on retreat in a bad moment
-------------------------------
and below
Why we retreat from the world occasionally
Peace until next week, Bill Lagerstrom
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