Be Still

Sometimes I think of my brain like the cluttered closet in my bedroom: old alarm clocks I should toss, shirts I haven't worn in decades, decks of cards missing whole suits.  There's so much in there that I have to side-step around worn-out running shoes and dress shoes from the Reagan administration.  I know how to clean out that closet, it just takes time and a little stamina--but sweeping out the clutter in my brain (or my heart) is stranger and harder somehow.

 

Several years ago, Kate and I hosted our first "Contemplative Sabbath" at the church here in Santa Cruz.  We asked our parish administrator to schedule nothing else on campus all day; we wanted the whole place to ourselves (six acres, three buildings, the whole bit) for silence, meditation, contemplative community.  We set up meditation areas here and there, a labyrinth in the sanctuary; we ate two meals in mindfulness and silence and gratitude.  We walked together, some of us, in the Pogonip just up the hill--walking slowly and quietly in the old redwood forest.  From 9 am to 7:30 pm, we honored one another, prayed in our own ways, read books and kept silence together.

We've done this now two or three times a year.  Each time, we welcome 15 to 20 friends and colleagues.  Each time, the community among us is rich and quiet and profoundly compassionate.  My little heart is not just cleared out in this: it's filled up as well, with something like spirit, something like grace, something like the gentle passing of time.

Kate and I are hosting another of these "Contemplative Sabbath" days at Peace United Church this Saturday from 9 am to 7:30 pm.  If you're on the Central Coast and you're hungry for a day of rest and peace--bring a book or a prayer rug and join us.  Lunch and dinner are provided.  Whatever traditions move you, you'll find a safe and comfortable space for silence and reflection and being.  Just being.

Give us a call at 426-2010 to register or email me at dgj@fccsantacruz.org.