February 2001 Newsletter

Table of Contents
Pilgrimage Sojourn
ARC Announces Two Pilgrimages
Community News
Two Book Reviews: For the Time Being by Annie Dillard
Lambs of God by Marele Day
A Poem: "Cottage Retreat"
Arc Needs List
Private Retreats
Response Form
Scheduling Retreats
Costs

PILGRIMAGE SOJOURN
by Dwayne Daehler, ARC Co-Director

The year was 1988. The occasion: the 1000th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church. The National Council of Churches sponsored a number of pilgrimages to the (then) Soviet Union to celebrate this anniversary. I, frankly, had little interest in Russian Orthodoxy. However, I decided to join a pilgrimage. Not as a pilgrim though, but as a traveler who was curious about getting behind the iron curtain of America’s supposed archenemy.

My group arrived in Moscow on a September night. I knew exactly what I wanted to do first -- I wanted to go to Red Square. I wanted to stand on that great plaza hard against the Kremlin where the Soviet military machine paraded on May Day and leather-booted military guards goose-stepped to Lenin’s Tomb. Furthermore, I wanted to stand and walk there alone, not with a group ushered around by a guide. So in the late of night, I strode onto Krasnia Ploshad -- Red Square -- and walked a circuit around the forbidding Kremlin -- headquarters of the “Evil Empire.” I remember standing in the middle of Red Square and saying aloud to myself over and over, “I can’t believe I’m here!” Having grown up shrouded in cold war fears of the Soviet Union, whose very name evoked terror, I felt utterly amazed to be in this place. I eagerly anticipated other similar experiences, as a traveler afoot in this land and culture, that have been perceptively described as “an enigma wrapped in a mystery.”

Somewhere along the way, though, I shifted from being a traveler to being a pilgrim. How that happened I cannot exactly say. The shift first began, I suspect, in the back-street Epiphany Church where the group went for evening prayer. I was so overcome by the transcendent beauty of this small church, so moved by the angelic echoes of the unseen choir, that I broke into unexplainable crying. That a liturgy I could not understand would touch me so deeply surprised me. The shift continued at the large Moscow Baptist Church where I was astonished at the number of uniformed soldiers in the congregation. It was, no doubt, also nudged along at St. Sergius Monastery, Zagorsk, where I was over-whelmed by the beauty of the edifices within the monastery-fortress walls, overwhelmed also by the crowd of Russians crammed into the church to worship.

The change from traveler to pilgrim was furthered in a church in Kiev as, with fascination, I watched a mother take her four-year-old son from icon to icon teaching him, without uttering a word, how to venerate the icons. And in Pechara Lavra Monastery, also in Kiev, where, using my “survival Russian,” I struggled through a conversation with a priest from a distant rural parish.

What I began to realize during these experiences was that something was altering inside me. Basic convictions and assumptions were crumbling - for example, my assumption that, in order for worship to be meaningful, it needed to be understandable. My sense of wonder and awe was also constantly being expanded. These inner transformations drew me ever deeper into my experiences so that I no longer merely consumed them or recorded them in my journal, but become changed by them.

Tourists are essentially consumers and collectors of experiences. They always need one more place to visit, one more sight to see, restlessly anxious that they might miss something. I have been a tourist. Travelers also consume and collect experiences, but they usually notch up the octane of the adventure that fuels them. Unlike tourists who flit from experience to experience, travelers tend to linger with their experiences, to become more intensely immersed in them, to be satisfied with fewer but richer experiences. I have also been a traveler.

Pilgrims, however, do not sojourn to consume or collect experiences, to add to their souvenir exhibit of places visited. Rather than to experience what is exceptional, they sojourn to rediscover how important is the ordinary and to see afresh how special is the familiar. Tourists and travelers like to sojourn with adult sophistication. Pilgrims realize they can sojourn only with childlike innocence, with eyes wide open, and this they do in order to be enlarged and enriched. Consumers and collectors of experiences are very much “into themselves.” Pilgrims sojourn to be “taken out of themselves,” to encounter holiness and to be transformed by that encounter. Tourists especially expect to return home to the same old work, the same old world they left before the trip. Pilgrims expect to return home seeing that work and world differently. This kind of purposefulness is at the heart of pilgrimage.
It is no accident that pilgrimage is a pillar of Moslem spiritual practice. We do not regard it as a pillar of Christian practice in the way we would say prayer is. Oh yes, there are people who seem to be collectors of pilgrimages, just as there are collectors of other spiritual experiences. “Collecting pilgrimages” is of questionable value since it is the essence of a pilgrimage that it does not need to be done over and over again. Nevertheless, pilgrimage has a beneficial place in the spiritual journey of Christians. Its benefit is primarily that it simultaneously uproots and re-roots the pilgrim. Pilgrimage both brings newness and affirms the old. Pilgrimage enables one to see the familiar afresh and differently while respecting it for its constancy.

This year ARC is offering two pilgrimage opportunities. One is a “mountain pilgrimage”: the other is a pilgrimage to Switzerland. Both are briefly described on p. 6 of this newsletter and more information is available. Listen to hear if you might be called to one of these sojourns. Because pilgrimage can be so significant in one’s spiritual journey, we anticipate offering additional pilgrimages in the future. I would especially like to offer a desert pilgrimage and perhaps, when the smoke of violence clears, a pilgrimage to Palestine. If you have any you would like to see offered, please let us know.

In the meantime, recognize that one need not sojourn far and wide to go on a pilgrimage. Although pilgrimage is commonly understood to be a sojourn to a holy site or holy person, you can make a familiar place the destination of a pilgrimage. Perhaps you have made a pilgrimage home or to a class reunion. I surmise some people have made a pilgrimage to ARC. You could make a pilgrimage to a local park. Sojourn expectantly, prayerfully, purposefully, open to God’s transforming work in your sojourn, and you will be on pilgrimage.
Back to Table of Contents


ARC ANNOUNCES TWO PILGRIMAGES

August 4-11, 2001 -- Pilgrimage to the Mountain
led by Dwayne Daehler, ARC co-director

Travel by van to Cloud Peak Wilderness Area in Wyoming (southwest of Sheridan).
Participants will set up camp in a national forest camp-ground. Each day will include
worship, one session for discussing mountains in Christian spirituality, time for personal reflection and group sharing, and hiking in the mountains.

Cost of the pilgrimage is $550/person based on a minimum of six participants. This
includes travel, food and camping costs.

October 3-17, 2001 -- Pilgrimage to Grandchamp Convent, Switzerland
led by Ruth and Loren Halvorson, ARC founders. This pilgrimage will include visits to Geneva--home of the World Council of Churches, Grandchamp Community--where Ruth was inspired to begin ARC Retreat Center, Sonnenhof Retreat Center near Basel, Wengen--a picturesque Swiss village closed to cars and buses, Jungraujoch Mtn. in the Swiss Alps, and Zurich. Cost is $2399 and includes airfare from the Twin Cities, other transportation, 13 nights accommodation and most meals. Write, call, or e-mail ARC for full information about both pilgrimages.
Back to Table of Contents


COMMUNITY NEWS
Each month ARC community members have the option of spending one day doing volunteer service somewhere else. Some community members save up the days in order to do a longer service project.

Dave Tidball toured in Haiti with his band the Jumpin’ Jehosafats. Dwayne Daehler went with the youth of Cambridge Lutheran Church to work for a week last summer on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Chris Wolf and Jerry Belanger took training at our local hospital to become hospice volunteers. Katherine Dutton coordinates the Interfaith Hospitality Network at her church, providing shelter to people who are temporarily homeless. Mark Faris and Jerry recently spent a day at a senior day center baking bread.

And, in their “retirement” (in case you wonder what they’ve been up to) Ruth Halvorson volunteers for a domestic violence center and Loren Halvorson is helping to build houses with Habitat for Humanity. Ruth and Loren have also been busy lately moving. They now live in the Highland Park area of St. Paul, closer to their five children and six grandchildren. Happily for us, they sold their home near ARC to former community and board member Richard Andersen, whom we’re happy to have as our new neighbor.
Back to Table of Contents


TWO BOOK REVIEWS BY KATHERINE DUTTON

For the Time Being by Annie Dillard

“Does God cause natural calamity? What might be the relationship of the Absolute to a lost schoolgirl in a plaid skirt? Given things as they are, how shall one individual live?” These are the questions Annie Dillard addresses in her newest book, For the Time Being. She bites off a lot. She chews voraciously. And, as usual, she then spits it all out onto our plates, leaving our stomachs churning.

In this book Dillard addresses the problem of evil, or theodicy as the theologians call it. She does this in several of her other books as well but in this one she actually draws some conclusions, at least, for the time being. Each chapter is broken into the following categories: birth, sand, China, clouds, numbers, Israel, encounters, thinker, evil, and now. It’s a little hard to make sense of at first but, as Dillard says, “By the third or fourth chapter the disparate scenes, true stories, facts, and ideas will be growing familiar. Together they make a complex picture of our world.”

My favorite one-liner is in a section about sand. Dillard explains that the earth is being gradually and continuously covered by debris. “Micrometeorite dust can bury you, too, if you wait: A ton falls on earth every hour,” she says. “On every continent, we sweep floors and wipe tabletops not only to shine the place, but to forestall burial.” And the punch line: “Quick: Why aren’t you dusting?”!

Lambs of God by Marele Day

Once upon a time, there was a cloistered order of nuns living atop a hill in a beautiful, pastoral, coastal region of Australia. The sisters prayed the offices, raised sheep and knit. Outside, the world was changing rapidly. But things on the hilltop stayed pretty much the same. Gradually, however, the nuns were dying off...except for three of them who are the main characters of this story. Then an up and coming priest with designs on the property enters the picture. He thinks the Church stands to benefit considerably ($$$) by turning the area into a resort. But little does he know-- there are still sisters living there. And he is certainly unprepared for the tenacity with which they will cling to their way of life.

And so the stage is set for this unusual, unsentimental, and totally unpredictable tale which turns out to be an extraordinary account of the amazing capacity for the renewal and transformation of the human heart.

If these books sound intriguing to you, read them and then come join us for discussion at our upcoming Book Retreats listed below.
Back to Table of Contents


"COTTAGE RETREAT"
by Wm. Kaseman

It is enough
awakening after eight hours through
seeing gently falling snow renewing
feeling tall pines rise welcoming
hearing chickadees plumping
stirring raisins into oatmeal bubbling
smelling cinnamon warming
holding a mug of tea steeping
lighting a vanilla candle singly
breakfasting alone silently
tasting grace humbly
knowing inner joy welling slowly
Watching, waiting, listening, wondering.
Interior preparation is enough . . .
for now.
Back to Table of Contents


COMMUNITY MEMBERS NEEDED

ARC is currently seeking an individual or couple to join the resident community in our ministry of hospitality. Tasks include cooking, housekeeping, office work, indoor and outdoor maintenance, and gardening. ARC provides room, board, a monthly stipend, and heath insurance. Contact ARC by phone, mail, or e-mail for more information.


ARC NEEDS LIST

jumper cables
VCR or TV/VCR Combo
cat and dog food, bird seed
colored copier paper
inkjet print cartridges
(HP 51645A or HP C1823 G)
lamps, end tables, couches, chairs
frequent flier miles
flashlights
non-stick muffin pans
and cookie sheets
brooms, sponge mops
food processor (Cuisinart)
Back to Table of Contents

PRIVATE RETREATS

Individuals are always welcome at ARC for a time of personal retreat. This can be for any length of stay as space is available. Rooms are private. Guests may enjoy resting, reading, skiing, or sitting by the fireplace and looking out the huge A-frame window.

The hermitage, a single-person dwelling in the woods, lends itself to a more solitary retreat. Also called Poustinia, which means ‘desert space,’ the hermitage is a bright, lofty room with a kitchenette and screened-in porch. The setting is ideal for those desiring more solitude.

The cottage is our newest space, a cozy but luxurious cabin available to individuals, couples, or small groups. It has a full kitchen, bedroom, bath, loft, and a living room with a gas fireplace and an A-frame window wall.
Call to make arrangements.
Back to Table of Contents


UPCOMING ARC RETREATS

The Practice of Prayer 7 pm Fri-Sun aft, Feb 9-11
This retreat will focus on the practice of prayer in Christian spirituality. It will explore a variety of commonly used prayer styles and will give guidance for participants in their prayer life.
Led by Dwayne Daehler, ARC Co-director Cost: $145

Desert Spirituality: Blessedness in the Void 7 pm Fri-Sun aft, April 6-8
This popular retreat repeats just before Holy Week as part of the Lenten journey. Silence, loneli- ness, weariness, unpredictability, dryness--these characterize life in the desert, a space in the soul as much as a place in the land. Elijah, Jesus, the desert fathers and mothers all went into the desert. In its harshness they found blessedness. In this retreat we will explore how to be attuned to the blessedness God bestows in the harsh sides of life. People who have had or are going through “desert experiences,” as well as people whose lives are presently comfortable, will find this sojourn into the desert meaningful.
Led by Dwayne Daehler Cost: $145

Recreating our Image of God: Bringing Together Creative Spirituality and Sexuality
A Perspective from the GLBT Community 7 pm Fri-Sun aft, March 23-25
How do we embody our spirituality? How do we know more about God through our sexuality? What are the unique God given gifts of GLBT people - and their friends - which we want to honor and celebrate in our lives? Let us together create a theology that is written by the people who live it. People at all points on the journey and of any sexual orientation are welcome. An invitation to exploration with two travelers on the journey:
Jerry Belanger, ARC community member, father, church activist, former monk, and Emily Hughes, artist and activist. Cost: $145

Bread for the Journey: A Bread Baking Retreat Sat 4 pm - Sun 4 pm, April 28-29
We will revisit the art of bread baking with a hands-on experience and discover the treasures it offers. Come and be nurtured by baking your own bread, taking a walk in the woods, time for prayer and reflection. Bring an apron.
Led by Jerry Belanger Cost: $85

Winter into Spring Book Retreats
See page 7 for reviews of both these great books. Book retreats include time for discussion, relaxation, worship, homemade meals, and a chance to connect with others who share a love of reading.
For the Time Being by Annie Dillard 9 am Sat-Sun aft, March 24-25
Lambs of God by Merele Day 9 am Sat-Sun aft, April 21-22
Led by Katherine Dutton, ARC Co-Director Cost per retreat: $90

Looking Ahead . . .

Couples Retreat 7 pm Fri-Sun aft, May 18-20
Watch for more information in our next newsletter or give us a call.
Led by Ruth & Loren Halvorson, ARC founders Cost: $145
Back to Table of Contents

RESPONSE FORM
Mail to: ARC Retreat Community, 1680-373rd Ave. NE, Stanchfield, MN 55080
Phone: 763-689-3540

Name(s): _____________________________________________ Phone: (____) _____________

Street Address: _________________________________________________________________

City: ___________________________________ State: __________ Zip: ___________________

Special Needs (diet, accessibility, etc.): _______________________________________________

PLEASE CHECK APPROPRIATE ITEMS:
___ I am registering for the following retreat(s):
______________________________________ __________________ ___________________
Retreat Title Retreat Date Deposit Enclosed
($35 per person per night, nonrefundable)
___ I am contributing to the ARC retreat ministry with a gift of $______.
___ I am contributing to the scholarship fund with a gift of $______ . (All gifts are tax deductible.)
___ I am moving. My new address is above.
___ I would like to volunteer on a weekend ___ or weekday ____. Please call me.
Back to Table of Contents


SCHEDULING RETREATS
To schedule a group or private retreat, call (763)689-3540.
(not long distance from the Twin Cities)
Office hours: 9 am to 5 pm
e-mail: arcretreat@hotmail.com until Feb. 28
arc@arcretreat.org as of March 1
Web-site: www.arcretreat.org

COSTS
24-Hr Retreat (Sun-Thurs)...........................................$65
24-Hr Retreat (Fri/Sat).................................................$70
Weekend Retreat (Fri eve-Sun aft).............................$135
Day Retreat (9-4)................$20 Weekdays, $25 Weekends
ARC-Led Weekend....................................................$145
Hermitage (24 hrs)..............$65 Weekdays, $70 Weekends
Cottage..........................................................Call for rates

Rates are slightly higher for profit-making organizations.
Back to Table of Contents