|
An Evening with Mark Nepo is an evening to cherish.
He has been called “an insightful
religious thinker and a decidedly credible voice of
contemporary spirituality” and a “deep
optimist.” He is a poet whose words grip us with their
truth and a writer of prose that elicits smiles and
moments of remembering. His latest book,
Unlearning Back to God, is a beautiful reflection
on
paring back to the core of what matters. Mark will read
from his new book of poems, Surviving Has Made
Me
Crazy, as well as from his next book of spiritual
non-
fiction, Facing the Lion, Being the Lion, due out
in the
fall of 2007. Cost: $18 in advance, $20 at the door, $8
with valid student ID. Refreshments will be provided.
Click for info ...
Integrating the Sacred
An
At-Home
Spiritual
Journey
Brings
the retreat to
you
Transformations Spirituality Center is
offering an At-Home Retreat inspired by the Spiritual
Exercises of St. Ignatius. This retreat experience can
be done in the comfort of your own home and in the
context of your everyday life. Although adapted to your
own pace, the retreat usually spans a period of six to
eight months in which you meet with a retreat director
at least twice monthly and set aside a daily prayer
time. Expect to grow in your relationship with God, in
clarity about your own life path, in spiritual freedom,
and in an inner peace that comes from a deeper
sense of God’s love for you. Start your journey today by
calling 269-381-6290, ext 310 for more information.
Click for info ...
Laura
Smith,
SSJ
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Once Upon A Time: A Psycho-Spiritual
Approach to Fairy and Folk Tales
9:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
Fairy and folk tales can enlighten our minds and
hearts for they describe the inner work of everyone
who journeys the inner path to greater consciousness
and longs for a deeper intimacy with their God.
Facilitated by Laura Smith,
SSJ, she will share
stories
like The Old Woman Who Lives in a Vinegar Bottle,
The Three Little Eggs, and Hansel and
Gretel. The day
will include presentations, quiet reflection and shared
dialogue. Please register by April 19. Cost: $45,
morning coffee and lunch are included.
Click for info ...
|
|
|
|
THANK YOU FOR
SHARING!
We hope you will forward this
email newsletter to friends and
colleagues. The programs are
offered in an abbreviated form
from our brochure to make it
easy for you to “cut and paste”
into your parish or office
newsletter. And yet, handy
links to our Web site give you
an easy way to quickly read
more details.
NOTE: To cut and paste, just
highlight the text you want to
use and click “edit,” then
“copy.” Create a new email or
Word document, place a cursor at the top and
click “paste.” And there it is! You might want
to add: Transformations is located at 3427 Gull Road.
To register call 269.381.6290 ext. 310.
Your help in sharing news about Transformations
is
appreciated.
|
How To Register ...
-
Register Online
- By Phone: 269.381.6290 x310
- By Fax: 269.381.4616
- By Mail: 3427 Gull Rd,
PO Box 02, Nazareth, MI 49074
Note: Your registration is not
complete until payment is received.
|
|
Spring is a Time for Transformations
We busily go about our days with overloaded
schedules. Why not take a moment to do something
just for you, for better health, for mind and spirit, to
feed your soul? Set aside some time every week for
self care and renewal. To end the day stressed and
overly fatigued is not healthy. Stress can play a role in
high blood pressure, migraine headaches, colds,
heart disease, and many other illnesses. Spring is a
time for transformations, make it a priority to do those
needed changes in your life.
Begin with an examination of what you do each day.
Track your time. Identify what you like to do. Unplug,
turn off the radio or TV. Take time to breathe, close
your eyes to help to clear your mind, even if for only five
minutes.
Get
Away From It All
Participate in a retreat. There can be many benefits:
re-energizing, refocusing, re-clarification of purpose,
and
refreshing the spirit. An organized retreat gives you the
opportunity to reconnect with yourself as well as with
others. A
retreat can be just the break your spirit
needs, and can last from a few hours to a few days.
Everyone is busy. An at-home journey might be a
better option. It can begin simply by creating an
environment at home that can be used for a retreat
spot, then contacting a spiritual director to make a
personally designed at-home journey that works for
you.
 Earlier this year, Anne
Carey, a local educator and
therapist, attended the conference entitled
Eliminating
Self-Defeating Behavior with Dr. Gregory
Boothroyd.
Transformations recently asked Anne to share her
thoughts about Transformations Spirituality Center
and her experience attending this retreat. “I see
Transformations as the spiritual heartbeat of the
community, as a place where people can come and
experience the hospitality and spirit that makes this
place different than most of the places in which we live
out most of our lives. In every Transformations
program I have attended the presenter has
commented on that difference because it is
something so rare in the everyday world. This is a
place to find the unexpected, and to explore your
spirituality as deeply as you choose.” Anne goes on to
say, “The atmosphere fosters reflection and invites
self-inquiry. For those willing to risk, this place and the
programs offered can be a threshold into a life of
greater meaning and purpose.”
“It is a place of comfort to people from many religious
backgrounds and to people who are disillusioned by
religion. They can come here to reconnect with those
things that are in the deepest places. Here people
can ‘get away’ on many levels. They can be fed and
cared for in myriad ways. This responds to the real
hungers that we see: hungers for meaning and
purpose; hungers for hope; hungers for connection,
hungers for God, hungers too deep for words. The
atmosphere here supports this kind of exploration.
The program quality is excellent, the place inviting,
and together they provide great support for the
spiritual journey.”
|
|
Upcoming
Programs
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
A “Mini
Retreat” for Men and Women in Recovery
6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Sue Ryder, MSW, therapist and
addictions counselor will lead this evening mini-
retreat, focusing on “The Promises” of 12-Step
recovery programs. Open to men and women in any
12-Step program. Coffee is provided. Cost: $15 if
registered before April 23, $18 thereafter.
Click for info ...
Saturday, May 12, 2007
The
Spirituality of Thomas Merton
9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Thomas Merton was one of the most famous
 American Roman Catholics of
the 20th century. Fr. Patrick Collins will lead an
exploration of four major themes from the extensive
writings of Thomas Merton. They are: the journey from
false to true self, contemplation, prayer, and silence
and solitude. There will be presentations, discussion
and experiences of contemplative prayer. Cost: $50 if
registered before May 1, $55 thereafter. Includes
lunch.
Click for info ...
 Wednesday, June 6 at 8:30 a.m.
to Thursday, June 7,
2007 at 6:30 p.m.
Finding Work Without
Losing Heart: A Retreat for Those in Job
Transition
Retreat facilitator Al Gustafson with a transition team
of seasoned professionals, who have made job or
career transitions themselves, will speak from their
real-life experiences. This workshop does not cover
the usual topics in a program dealing with job loss.
Rather than networking, resumes and cover letters,
this program helps participants understand that the
job transition process has predictable stages
fundamental to human development. “Participants are
empowered with renewed confidence, a sense of
purpose and come to recognize that transition offers
an opportunity to grow stronger spiritually and
emotionally,” says Al Gustafson, one of the retreat
organizers. Cost: $95* includes private guest room,
six meals, materials, and individual spiritual direction.
Send a $25 deposit by May 9 to reserve your place (all
but $15 refundable until May 30). *For those who are unable to pay the
full
fee, a minimum of $25 is required and you are asked
to contribute as much as you can to the $95 fee.
Click for info ...
 Don't Forget our
Ongoing
Programs
Group
Spiritual Direction
In group spiritual direction a small group gathers on a
regular basis with a trained spiritual director to assist
one another in an awareness of the many ways God
reaches out to us in daily life.
Click for info ...
Living
From Within: Journeying Toward an Undivided
Life
A series of retreats in the spirit of the work of Parker
Palmer.
The more passionate we are about our work,
the more vital it is that we take time to renew our own
spirits - to reconnect with the wellsprings of our
service to others.
Click for info ...
|
|
|
Join our Email Newsletter
Transformations on Twitter
Transformations on Facebook