"Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self. Jesus himself entered into this furnace. There he was tempted by the three compulsions of our world; to be relevant ("turn stones into bread") to be spectacular ("throw yourself down") and to be powerful ("I will give you all these kingdoms"). There He affirmed God as His only source of His identity. ("You must worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.") Solitude is the place of the great struggle and the great encounter - the struggle against the compulsions of the false self, and the encounter with the living God who offers Himself as the substance of the new self.......
.......Solitude is not a private therapeutic place. Rather, it is a place of conversion, the place where the old self dies and the new self is born, the place where the emergence of the new man and woman occurs."
-From The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen
Please note that the March 3 day retreat is full. There is a growing list for the June retreat so if you are interested in your name being added please let Dave Newton (contact details on previous posts) know.
