tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post7696937601852217339..comments2023-10-28T02:59:37.028-07:00Comments on E m e r g i n g ...Q u a k e r i s m ..L i t e r a t u r e ..R e l i g i o n ... L i f e: To go to retreats or stay home?Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12396312339372162866noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-60944704218669167752009-03-13T19:50:00.000-07:002009-03-13T19:50:00.000-07:00I think you've answered your own question. "for m...I think you've answered your own question. "for me at this point I need to be out more actively serving." If you clearly feel the call to serve and clearly see some way to serve people around you then going off somewhere to talk about serving isn't appropriate for you. Of course, going to conferences may be just what others need because they are different. But if you know what you are called to do, then leave the conferences to others.<BR/><BR/>You have food that others do not see and that is to do the will of the One who sends you out the door every day.RichardMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08564152237574253857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-57840606744714915012009-03-13T09:22:00.000-07:002009-03-13T09:22:00.000-07:00It has only been in recent years that I have been ...It has only been in recent years that I have been able to go to retreats and conferences that are not work related. My favorite thing about the recent Quaker events and conferences I have attended is getting to meet people like you, Diane, whose blogs I enjoy following. There's a connection that seems to happen through voice, face-to-face interaction and touch that can't be replicated on the printed page, though Lord knows I dearly love reading.Mary Elizabeth Bullock-Resthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13867099451147318235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-71154592308528256082009-03-12T19:30:00.000-07:002009-03-12T19:30:00.000-07:00Diane,I wrote an earlier long comment but somehow ...Diane,<BR/><BR/>I wrote an earlier long comment but somehow it didn't post. I took this to mean that again I was probably interrupting or detracting/distracting from the conversation. That usually happens when I attend conferences. I have been told, correctly, that I take the discussion to too much of an abstract level or introduce other points of view.<BR/><BR/>I share many of your feelings about retreats and conferences. My most successful times are usually when I talk with another person or very small group. I was at the Stillwater Meeting for Worship on First Day and regret that I could not have had some discussions with some of the conference attendees, especially you. However, I had earlier decided to not attend the retreat for many of the reasons you cite for "staying home," the time did not seem appropriate to interrupt social time or the progress in the retreat. <BR/><BR/>I appreciate your blogs!<BR/><BR/>TomTom Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12194918323559385371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-84402191925076841992009-03-12T13:31:00.000-07:002009-03-12T13:31:00.000-07:00Liz,Hi again. I did realize fairly early on in the...Liz,<BR/><BR/>Hi again. I did realize fairly early on in the retreat --like maybe right away!--that my grid of expectation and need was coloring my experience ... <BR/><BR/>Hystery,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the comment. Same.Dianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12396312339372162866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-70782657823094785932009-03-12T09:12:00.000-07:002009-03-12T09:12:00.000-07:00I nearly always find such occasions deeply painful...I nearly always find such occasions deeply painful. They were required of me in my graduate programs and I nearly always left them with the thought that they caused people to be artificially emotionally intimate which often resulted in injuries to people whose experiences, difference, or personalities made them especially vulnerable. <BR/><BR/>The only successful one I ever attended was one run by a Friend who first taught us how to include long periods of silence in our work together.Hysteryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02044678910937934731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-44208366876437205722009-03-12T07:57:00.000-07:002009-03-12T07:57:00.000-07:00Diane, you write:"I am curious about other people'...Diane, you write:<BR/><BR/><I>"I am curious about other people's experience with retreats and conferences and such like gatherings? Do you find them helpful? Disturbing? How do you cope when you begin to feel unsettled?"</I><BR/><BR/>I have mixed experiences at these sorts of gatherings, though one thing is constant:<BR/><BR/>If I attend with expectations and unmet longings--what topics will be covered; how much large and small group discussion there'll be; will my own concern be addressed; even who the other attenders are--I inevitably have a <B><I>less satisfactory</I></B> experience.<BR/><BR/>When I take the time to release my expectations and enter into a place of not-knowing, I seem to have a more satisfactory experience.<BR/><BR/>And if I begin to feel "disturbed" or "unsettled," I fall into my own sort of isolated prayer and worship on the spot, head in my hands, and ask for God to bring me to a place of love and vulnerability. At some point, out of that place, I am able to speak to the group or presenter about what I am troubled by, and I find I am often received with equal tenderness.<BR/><BR/>Still, it is usually my own expectations and unmet longings that get in my way of having a better experience.<BR/><BR/>Blessings,<BR/>Liz Opp, <A HREF="http://thegoodraisedup.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">The Good Raised Up</A>Liz Opphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09802348848085930901noreply@blogger.com