February 2005 Newsletter

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Retreats
Even Enemies: Learning to Love Liberally by Heart
by Nancy Victorin-Vangerud, previous ARC Director
Community News
Volunteers Needed
ARC Needs List
Hearty Vegetable Soup
Ever-bearing Fruit: Lessons from Raspberries
--by Patty Friesen, Co-Pastor, Faith Mennonite Church
Board Members
Thanks

ARC Ecumenical Retreat Community
NEWSLETTER
February 2005 VOL. XXV NO. 1

ARC Retreats...
Time Apart, Rest, and Spiritual Renewal

Contemplating End of Life
7pm Fri. Feb 25--2pm Sun. Feb 27 $155
Is death such an undesirable part of our existence that we are better off
acting as if it were not real? Or is it possible to befriend our dying
gradually, trusting that we have nothing to fear? Many spiritual traditions
regard the contemplation of one’s death as a valuable aspect of practice.
Far from being morbid, this can help us focus on the essentials of life and
deepen the values guiding our actions and choices. There will be time for
personal and group reflection on beliefs, fears, and hopes regarding death –
our own as well as the deaths of those dearest to us. Time will also be
devoted to our preparation for death, including approaches for identifying
and working with “unfinished business.” An opportunity to work on health
care directives and ethical wills will also be offered.
Led by Rev. Katie Herman, Palliative Care Chaplain, Abbott Northwestern
Hospital

“Letting Go” in Lent
9am-4pm, Thursday, March 10th $30
You are invited to reflect on the prayers of two spiritual writers, Ignatius
of Loyola and Martin Luther, who make curious comrades in faith! The day
will offer space for solitude and group time, lunch and closing worship.
Carol Johnson, Spiritual Director and ARC Board Member

Centering Our Lives in Love
9am-4pm, Monday, March 21 $30
This retreat offers an introduction to the practice of centering prayer,
drawing on the book, A Deeper Love, by Elizabeth Smith and Joseph Chalmers.
Can we find deep peace to love even our enemies? The day will offer
opportunities for time alone and time together, prayer, lunch and worship.
Bring your own copy of the book, or order one for that day through ARC.
Nancy Victorin-Vangerud,
previous ARC Director

Surviving and Thriving Together
7pmFri Apr 29--2pmSun May 1, $155
Every day, in ordinary ways, we grow more aware of the connections between
ourselves and others in our globalizing world. How have we been formed in
our various faith traditions and how does this impact our ways of connecting
and living as neighbours, friends and families in a richly diverse society?
How can we survive and even thrive together as citizens? During this
weekend, we will reflect on our formation in the Abrahamic traditions of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We'll explore the creative possibilities
for deepening our connections in a fast-changing world.
Led by Dr. Monica Manning, an independent educator with Nova Learning, and
recently a William Collidge Fellow in the CrossCurrents Research Colloquium,
and Dr. Nancy Victorin-Vangerud, previous ARC Director.

May Day Bread Retreat
4pm Apr 30 - 4pm May1st, $90 adult,
$80 youth ages 13-18
Learn the fine art of bread baking, and its connection with peacemaking and
hospitality. Open to all, but this would be a great way to honour Mother’s
Day as mothers, daughters, othermothers, nieces, aunts and grand-daughters!
Includes ingredients, and take home a loaf! Bring a scarf or cap and apron.
Led by Jerome Belanger, ARC Bread Baker

RETREATS
To arrange a private or group retreat, call 763/689-3540.
Office hours: 9 am to 5 pm
e-mail: arcretreat@hotmail.com
Web-site: www.arcretreat.org

COSTS
24-Hr Retreat (Sun-Thurs)...........................................$70
24-Hr Retreat (Fri/Sat).................................................$75
Weekend Retreat (Fri eve-Sun aft).............................$145
Day Retreat (9-4)................$20 Weekdays, $25 Weekends
ARC-Led Retreats ................................................add $10
Hermitage (24 hrs)..............$70 Weekdays, $75 Weekends
Cottage..............................................Call/e-mail for rates
Spiritual Companioning...................sliding scale, $35-$50

(Rates are slightly higher for profit-making organizations.)

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RESPONSE FORM
Mail to: ARC Retreat Center, 1680-373rd Ave. NE, Stanchfield, MN 55080

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

Street Address:
________________________________________________________________

City: ___________________________________
State: __________
Zip: ___________________

Special Needs (diet, accessibility, etc.):
_______________________________________________
In special circumstances, retreat scholarships are available. Please
inquire when registering.

PLEASE CHECK APPROPRIATE ITEMS:
___ I am registering for the following retreat(s):
(Deposit: $35 per person per night, nonrefundable)

Title: _________________________________
Date: ______________
Deposit: __________________
____I am contributing to the ARC retreat ministry with a gift of $___________.
(All gifts tax-deductible.)
--in honor or in memory of a loved one
__________________________________________
--I would like this person or the family notified of this gift.
____yes _____no

___ I am moving. My new address is above.
___ I would like a Gift Certificate. Please include name of recipient,
address (if you’d like it sent directly) and payment. Rates are on the back page.
___ I would like to volunteer ________ for a day, _________ a weekend,
_________ longer.

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Even Enemies: Learning to Love Liberally by Heart
by Nancy Victorin-Vangerud, previous ARC Director
(The Evolving Church Series, Plymouth Congregational Church, Jan. 13th,2005)
The heart becomes free only by slowly accepting the invitation of a deeper
love. --Elizabeth Smith and Joseph Chalmers

When 9-11 happened, my family and I were living in Australia, where we woke
to a new world. I walked out to the front lawn and picked up the newspaper.
I stared at the pictures of twisted steel and burning smoke and thought to
myself, “This can’t be true!” But then I walked back in, switched on the
TV—“live from NY”—and watched a human being drop from 50, maybe 100 stories
to the pavement below. Every few minutes CNN ran news bulletins across the
bottom of the screen. One repeating itself over and over was “Disney World
is closed”. Disney World—this was the crumbling illusion, that United
States citizens had been living in a Magic Kingdom—a fantasy world of our
own making—inviolable, carefree...even immortal.
After the attack, floods of feelings came to the surface, a mad mixture of
loss, fear, and outrage. Yes, there was an outpouring of care and sympathy
for the victims and their families, but there was an outpouring of hatred
and retaliation too—in words and deeds—what Walter Wink characterizes as
“counterviolence”. The shattering of one illusion unveiled another: our
divine mandate in the world, our bringing about what Chris Hedges calls the
“mythical total war” to once and for all purify the nations. Catherine
Keller claims that we began playing the “apocalyptic mirror game”, where our
‘good’ violence eradicates their ‘evil’ violence; our ‘goodness’ reflects
God, who is on our side, and their ‘evil’ reflects their godforsakenness.
Think of the first name given to the action against Osama bin Laden:
Operation Infinite Justice (only a deity wields that!). A heightened sense
of responsibility welled up from the heartbreak, but tragically, this was
all to often framed in a discourse of hubris and vengeance.
The second week after the attack, I felt an immense amount of despair. I
had always thought of my country as a tolerant, progressive, and
compassionate society. I wondered if this too was an illusion, for myself
individually, and for our society. I remember confessing to my students
that I realized I did not know how to love, that I had a very shallow
understanding of love to face the faces of this new world. My students
would have none of this! “You’re a Christian, you’re a minister!” they
retorted. But this was true—I was gripped by the deep sense of not knowing
how to love. And I wonder about the impulses driving our society too. We
have embarked on a path that in the name of eradicating enemies, we are
creating conditions for “endless enemies” (Jonathan Kwitny) by which to
define ourselves.
Walter Wink claims that when it comes to enemies, our tendency from years
of evolutionary adaptation is: fight or flight. Perhaps today we are faced
with a spiritual adaptation, one which calls for the emergence of ancient
wisdom anew: learning to love our enemies. While this wisdom is not
confined to Christianity, it dwells at the heart of Christianity, and if we
are going to call ourselves Christians, of any flavour, we better have some
integrity about this ethic. As Catherine Keller claims, “We must make clear
that all rhetoric of Christian virtue or heritage is disqualified if we do
not espouse a Christian view of the enemy.”
For emerging faith communities today, the challenge is re-discovering
spiritual practices that form us in the way of loving even our enemies. We
need to bring our enlightened, liberal minds ‘down’ into our hearts and
learn to see in the darkness, for “we can only hold others responsible for
their inhumanities precisely when we become willing to take responsibility
for our own” (Keller). As the spirituality of the New Testament suggests,
“God is love, and those who abide in love, abide in God and God abides in
them” (1 John 4:16). Can we learn to abide in love, even with our enemies?
As Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh invites us, “The fire of hatred and
violence cannot be extinguished by adding more hatred and violence to the
fire. The only antidote to violence is compassion.” Faith communities
offer inner resources to deal with our world’s terrors and sufferings for
the long haul. Too often those of us advocating for social change and
justice find it difficult to sustain our work for long. We burn out; we
experience depression. Some of us grow indifferent, even cynical. We
externalize
the problem as being only about institutions and public systems. We’ve
rationalized the notion that ‘personal piety’ is part of the problem. But
when we also burn with hatred and judgment, we become our own enemies, by
mirroring our enemies (if they even are our enemies?).

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COMMUNITY NEWS
In early December, we said farewell to Joy Danvers, who has returned home to
Aoteroa/New Zealand to continue her ministry of spiritual companioning with
the Sisters of Mercy. In late December, we said goodbye to Bree Lloyd,
Becky Potter, Chris Wolf, and Tux. Bree is living in St. Paul, in hopes of
working with adults with physical and developmental disabilities. Becky,
Chris and Tux are living in Eagan. Becky is working with Tappe Construction
doing trim carpentry. At Christmas Lunch, we celebrated Lynne Knudson, who
‘retired’ after baking at ARC for 18 years! Many guests and community
members have appreciated Lynne’s gentle care, sense of humour and delicious
cookies, coffee cakes and deserts. We thank her, and wish her the best with
Grandy Crafts! Susan Lorentz, ARC’s Office Administrative Assistant and
former resident community member, has moved full-time to the Registered
Nursing program at the Cambridge Community College. So, recently we
welcomed Julie Giffrow to the Office. Julie lives with her husband and
daughter in Stanchfield. She has a love of cross-country skiing and
scrap-booking. She is also a distributor and educator with Market America,
and has a focus in natural health and nutrition. Welcome back to Mark Faris
who shares, “My recent life experiences have been in Chicago with Esperanza
Community Services for persons who are physically and mentally challenged.
I return to ARC after a two year hiatus. I am originally from Missouri, but
I have lived outside there most of my adult life. I am a visual artist
(painting, drawing) and a film buff. I like to travel, eat out, and live
simply. I am reading Fenton Johnson’s book, Keeping Faith:A Skeptic’s
Journey Among Christian and Buddhist Monks 2003).”

When we are serious about prayer and no longer consider it one of the many
things people do in their lives, but, rather, the basic receptive attitude
out of which all of life can receive new vitality, we will, sonner or later,
raise the question: What is my way to pray, what is the prayer of my
heart?” --Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out

New Opportunities of Service--ARC Retreat Community
Weekend volunteers for retreat assistance with hospitality, serving
meals, care of rooms, cutting firewood, and office tasks
Short-term volunteers needed for 2005, 1-3 months, individuals
or couples, in residence, room and board provided
Resident Community Members for 2005-6, 1+ year commitment,
fulltime, room, board, small stipend and medical insurance, if needed.
Application and reference forms on our website, www.arcretreat.org.
For information on any of these opportunities, please contact Nancy
Victorin-Vangerud, arcretreat@hotmail.com, or 763-689-3540.

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ARC NEEDS LIST

decorative photocopy paper for cards
firewood, esp. oak! trees or cut wood
an overhead projector
large wooden picnic basket for hermitage
suet cakes and birdfeed for birds
plain white or black kitchen aprons
new caps without logos for kitchen work
Kitchenaid table top mixer
new dish rags
herb and garden seedlings, springflowers
Confirmation groups!
Retreat sponsors for persons in need

Hearty Vegetable Soup
6 c. chicken broth 1/2 c. corn
1/2 c. pinto beans 1/2 c. peas
28-oz. can tomatoes with juice 1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 c. green beans 1/4 tsp. rosemary
1/2 c. chopped onion 1/4 tsp. thyme
3/4 c. chopped carrots 1 c. macaroni or rotini
1/2 c. chopped celery

Soak pinto beans overnight. Cook pinto beans; drain and discard water.
Combine all ingredients except macaroni and rotini and simmer 30 minutes.
Add macaroni or rotini 20 minutes before serving; may need to add more broth
once the macaroni cooks. Serves 8.

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Ever-bearing Fruit: Lessons from Raspberries
--by Patty Friesen, Co-Pastor, Faith Mennonite Church
My friend gave me raspberry canes a few years ago and assured me that they
were "ever-bearing," meaning that they would produce fruit all season long.
They bore for a few weeks and then quit. Maybe I needed to be ever-bearing
in my watering!
I had the wonderful gift from my congregation at Faith Mennonite Church of
a six month sabbatical time of rest, reading, hiking and visiting urban
Mennonite churches in Canada and the US. The fallow time of sabbatical
harbored seeds that have since produced fruit of energy and creativity and
new ways of viewing God.
While I've been living off the fruit of sabbatical time, I've also
remembered that I have to water my raspberry canes if I want them to keep
producing. I went on a private Advent retreat at ARC Retreat Center in
Cambridge, MN last week. It was a return to sabbatical time. I rested, read
and walked in the woods and felt deep peace and stillness settle in. I met
with my spiritual companion and reflected on my retreat time as a
mini-sabbatical; a return to providing my spiritual roots with the rest,
nutrients and water I need to keep bearing fruit in my ministry. I want to
continue to nurture my spiritual life better than I nurture my raspberries!

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ARC’s Board Members for 2005!
Dick Young, Chairperson
Carol Johnson
Barbara Anne Keely
Barbara Mons, Vice-Chairperson
Mike Tessneer
Doug Koons
Jay Lyons, Treasurer
Anne Picard
Wendy Wiegmann
Janet Tollund, Secretary
Donna McNear
Francette Malecha
Dave Tidball, Community Rep.
Doug Federhart

Thanks to retiring members...Casey vanderBent, Anne Tessneer, Jerome
Belanger, Francette Malecha, and Dick Young. But, Dick and Francette are
taking up another turn! Thanks too, to Dan Garnaas and Jon Slock!

Thanks too...to ARC volunteers!
Ruth and Loren Halvorson, Jerry Olstad, Barbara Anne Keely, Evelyn
Kowalczyk, Dick and Zarida Young, Sherry Monson, Barbara Mons, Erica
Bjorum, Myrna Kuehl, Braham Volunteers--Evenna Lindberg, Marian Larson,
Ruth Anderson, Evelyn Nelson, Connie Pettibone, and Dorothy Shimmelman.

ARC will be looking carefully at our mailing list to help reduce our mailing
costs and make sure persons who want to receive the newsletter do so. If
you have gifted at least $10 to ARC in the last year or this year, you will
remain on our mailing list, or if you specifically make a request. If not,
then this will be the second to the last newsletter. Thanks so much!

"joyful...simple...merciful..."
--ARC Cornerstone, 1977