Calendar

Contemplative in the Kootenays, October 5, 2024

Contemplative in the Kootenays meets (mostly!) monthly in New Denver. This day-long event (10 am to 3 pm) is open to contemplatives across the Kootenays; most of us practice Centering Prayer, but not everyone. Most of us are Christian, but not everyone. Most of us come regularly, but not everyone! This month we’ll be exploring …

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October Sunday Sit

Join us for Sunday Sit on October 20, 2024, at Knox Hall in New Denver. This event  has an initial session of guided meditation, followed by a break. The second session is a time of reflection on sacred text and an open communion celebration. Both sessions will be led by Therese DesCamp. Session 1: 9:30 …

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Wide Spot: Aim High

One predictable result of a good retreat is the scramble at the end when people start asking, “How can we keep this great community going?” Then follows a frenzied exchange of emails and phone numbers.  Equally predictable is that any community formed simply for its own continuance inevitably falls apart. I find this depressing. I …

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THERESE ON SABBATICAL

As of May 1, 2024, Therese is going on sabbatical for several months. You can continue to read from the Writings page and the Red Dress page, where new chapters will be added regularly.

WideSpot: Beautiful

“Our fingers imbibe like roots,” begins a prayer by Francis of Assisi, “So I place them on what is beautiful in this world.”   Beauty may feel like a shaky reed these days, nothing much to hang our hat on. Most of us are more inclined to attend to what’s ugly: environmental degradation, wars, famines, loss …

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Wide Spot: Temper, temper

First you heat carbon and iron to 1450 C, then cool it rapidly. This makes the steel hard, but it shatters easily. Next you heat it to a lower temperature, say, 650 C, and cool it slowly. The end result is hard but not brittle, with springy strength. This is tempering. I thought about tempering …

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Mini-Retreat: Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, OR

Therese will be leading the November Mini-Retreat at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, November 18, 2023. This in-person gathering will focus on the inseparability of grief and joy. The event begins at 9 am and ends at noon. More information to come.

Wide Spot: So say the lichens

She was getting out of her van by the beach, clearly unnerved by the thick smoke in the air. “Did you hear that they’re evacuating all of Yellowknife?” I blinked; I didn’t know her from Adam, but she sure needed to talk. “Yes,” I said. I felt anxious too. But I know how to listen …

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Wide Spot: Don’t Kick

I had a list a mile long, I did, of plans for July. Not only family visits, but writing space, study time, a week-end board planning meeting, a personal retreat week. My overall longing for this month was for big blocks of quiet reflection time, something that’s felt sorely lacking during the last six months. …

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Wide Spot: Stung

Last year, my revered teacher made some unconsidered remarks to a board on which I serve. Part of the problem was that she didn’t recognize the competence of the people in front of her; that stung us. Another board member pointed out her misconception, and the group went on to vote in favor of the …

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Canadians can send an e-transfer to descamp@widespot.ca. Everyone else, I take cheques of all nationalities.
Box 452, New Denver, BC, V0G 1S0, Canada