Bridges, Paths, and Waters; Dirt, Sky, and Mountains
A Portable Guided Retreat on Creation, Awe, Wonder,
and Radical Amazement
N. Thomas Johnson-Medland
Bridges, Paths, and Waters; Dirt, Sky, and Mountains
A Portable Guided Retreat on Creation, Awe, Wonder, and Radical Amazement
Copyright © 2010 N. Thomas Johnson-Medland. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Resource Publications
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401
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ISBN 13: 978-1-60899-556-1
EISBN 13: 978-1-62189-379-0
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
This book is dedicated to Glinda, Zachary and Josiah—my family.
They love God, nature, and campfires with a zeal that keeps me fresh. And, to all of the campers, counselors, volunteers,
and staff of the Pocono Plateau Camp and Retreat Center.
It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us. Now, nearly all those I loved and did not understand when I was young are dead, but I still reach out to them.
Of course, now I am too old to be much of a fisherman, and now of course I usually fish the big waters alone, although some friends think I shouldn’t. Like many fly fisherman in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic like in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sound of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that fish will rise.
Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river is cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by rivers.
—Norman Maclean
“A River Runs Through It”
Preface
How to use this manual
With the exception of the introduction—which simply sets the scene and gives definition and direction to the rest of the work—this manual is broken down into small bite size modules for pondering, meditating, and responding. Each module reflects the same structure as the one before it. The content will be different and the focus will be unique.
I suggest you invest in the process by allowing yourself 20—30 minutes to sit with the material presented and then respond to it. The work here is one of seeing, feeling, and connecting. It is the work of interacting with stimulus and recognizing how it affects us within. It is the process that goes on in creating any great piece of art.
The work in each section revolves around a nature poem. Read it. Re-read it and then gather some focusing words from the discussion immediately following the poem. The discussion is meant to draw out some ideas and impressions that are left with us on reading the poem. The discussion will help us to find some ways in which the words have stirred things within us as well.
After the discussion there will be space to interact with some questions. This interaction is really how spiritual direction and formation is done. Good “Spiritual Direction and Formation” is nothing more than offering the seeker relevant questions to mull over. Through interaction we muddle around and give voice to unnamable things we are feeling and to hidden ways we are connecting with the words of the poem. You will be creating your own piece of art—through your interior interactions with the poems—that reflects your wanderings amid the topics presented.
Read the poem one more time before you begin to interact with the questions.
Because it is a spiritual retreat, you may be inclined to think of your responses as something other than art. But, they are your internal creations. A spiritual retreat helps us to create—within and around us—the life that we believe we are “called to” and “asked” to live. We are creating and that is art.
Find yourself a space that is conducive to silence and wonder. A spot by a lake, by a tree, or perhaps in your backyard. If you cannot find these things, then finding a piece of art or an object of nature that represents these things is fine. Find an awesome and magnificent view and prepare yourself to create anew the life you have been given—one breath and one day at a time.
The ideal setting would be for you to go away, to a retreat house, in the “wilds”. Spend time slowly walking and breathing in the air of the place. Take simple meals. Observe silence. Share this time with a few friends or go it alone. Maybe there is a family cabin, if there is no retreat house; or a friend’s vacation home on the beach or in the woods.
The journey of retreating is an age-old form of direction and formation. The silence and the focus allow us to uncover things that we may never have the chance to notice in our everyday lives. The questions give us pause to make connections and discoveries that we may easily miss in our routines. Go to your retreat and to your heart and wander.
Acknowledgments
I want to thank all of the readers who helped me wrestle with the content in this book. They helped me to clarify meaning, add value, and chase the trail that leads to better writing. Thanks to Mark Robbins, PhD and Glenn Walsh, MAH lifelong friends that gave me immense support and guidance in this book and in all of life. Thanks also to two members of the Order of Saint Luke who provided supportive words and prayers to the text and my spiritual journey: Brother John Dornheim and Sister Lucy Porter.
Introduction
There is something haunting about water. There is a power in her to lure and lull us. It is not just her power to drown or destroy. She holds silent things within. There is a lot of silence in her, and a lot of aged knowledge from seeing and passing all that has been. That is her wisdom. That silence is her power.
Rivers have seen passages of time that we can only guess at or imagine. Rivers wrap themselves over the planet in space, but have existed like this over time.
Her wisdom spans through time and is held treasure within her very being. Perhaps she can answer the thunderous questions of the Holy One that were hurled at Job in chapter 38 (verses 19–33). Questions about where the abode of light is hidden. Questions about where the rain and the hail come from and who parents them. Questions that challenge our small understanding and insignificant status on this earth-place we call home.
The water of the rivers, streams, and oceans may have answers to these questions that we have no right guessing at in our short life spans. Perhaps all that they have seen and witnessed has been absorbed into each cell of every drop of the earth’s waters. There is something about water that makes us calm. Water exudes a peace that can only come from wisdom. It may be that this peace comes from the wisdom of knowing that everything shall pass, that everything will move on and become something else.
I believe that bridges and paths hold much of the same. There is a silence in them,