The Rope to the Barn
Our weekly Community Calls provide peer support, discussion forums and guest workshops for retreat center leaders and allied organizations. Keep checking back for more of these videos here in our blog.
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Jean and Sally led us in a quiet, supportive call today, with time for breakout groups, reflective journaling, and poetry. We explored the metaphor of “the rope to the barn,” examining the lifelines within ourselves and our communities that guide us, out into the snowstorms and back again safely.
What – or who – are the threads in your rope?
What is your knowing about the blizzard in your life?
What allows you to hold on to the rope?
What sustains you as your center sustains others?
We ended the call with Jean’s reading of a poem by Lucille Clifton (1936 - 2010), entitled “blessing the boats.”
may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that
Notes and audio recording from this conversation are also available at the link below.
Facilitators:
Jean Richardson, Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center, RCC, Circle of Trust
Sally Hare, Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center, RCC, Circle of Trust