INWARD BOUND: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers for Men Today

We welcome you to this wilderness retreat for men at Rolling Ridge with Belden Lane,  June 3-5, 2011. The weekend will draw on elements from Belden's work with Richard Rohr's Men as Learners and Elders and with the Mankind Project (including their call to accountability, a man's openness to his feelings, the true and the false self, and the importance of dying before you die). More particularly, we will explore the spirituality of the Desert Fathers, focusing on their realization that the wound and the gift are one. The desert place of breakdown in our lives is invariably the place where we're invited to a new wholeness. As Leonard Cohen puts it, "the cracks are where the light comes in." From a Christian perspective, this is the core of the paschal mystery.

What we learn from the desert is this: The wounds in our lives give us insight to our deepest needs. If we address those needs, asking ourselves what vision of wholeness may arise in response to them, and if we identify actions that can meet them, we clarify the distinctive "mission" that is ours -- our unique way of living out the healing of our wounds. Allowing each man to go through this desert work of developing his own mission statement will be an important goal of the weekend. How, in each man's case, does "Mission = Needs + Vision + Action"? This will involve inner work, going back to our childhood, making an "Inward Bound" Journey that by God's grace brings healing and occasions new freedom. Reflections on biblical insights, the experience of the Desert Fathers, the use of teaching stories from the great faith traditions, visualization exercises, journaling, and small group work will all be used in reaching this goal.

Belden C. Lane is Professor of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University, a Presbyterian minister who has taught on a Jesuit, Catholic faculty for 30 years. In addition to being an avid backpacker and storyteller, he has served as an MROP Weaver with MALES and is connected with the Mankind Project in St. Louis. His books include The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality (Oxford, 1998), Landscapes of the Sacred (Johns Hopkins, 2001), and Ravished by Beauty: The Surprising Legacy of Reformed Spirituality (Oxford, 2011).

Suggestions for further Reading:

• Richard Rohr, Adam's Return, From Wild Man to Wise Man, and Quest for the Grail (three fine books on male spirituality and woundedness)
• Belden Lane, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality (reflections on the Desert Fathers and the experience of loss)
• Jim Finley, Merton's Palace of Nowhere (excellent on the true and false self)
• Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart: Spirituality of Desert Fathers (good brief intro)
• Benedicta Ward, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers (the brief teachings of the monks)
• William Harmless, Desert Christians: An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism
• Harville Hendricks, Getting the Love you Want (how early wounds affect intimate relationships)
• Bill Plotkin, Soulcraft: The Mysteries of Nature and Psyche and Nature and the Human Soul
• Thomas Golden, Swallowed by a Snake: The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing
• Robert A. Johnson, Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche
• Robert Bly, A Little Book on the Human Shadow; Iron John
• David Deida, The Way of the Superior Man: The Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire
• Terrence Real, I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression
• Neil Chethik, Fatherloss: How Sons of All Ages Come to Terms with the Deaths of Their Dads
• Gerald May, The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection between Darkness and Spiritual Growth; The Awakened Heart: Opening Yourself to the Love You Need

THE SCHEDULE INCLUDES:

• Meals together
• Teachings on: Desert Spirituality, True Self/False Self, Wounds & Gifts
• Ritual & Storytelling
• Inner work
• Small group discussion
• Time outdoors for hiking, solitude, and silence
• Drumming
• Bonfire

Registration fee for the event is $150, and includes meals, lodging and program fees.  To register, send check to Still Point Retreat Management, c/o Bob Sabath, 129 Jubilee Lane, Harpers Ferry WV 25425.  Call Bob if you have questions: 202.531.7572.