Wise Women Retreat

The Wise Women of First Trinity and St. Matthews - and friends - had a wonderful retreat this weekend at the Seton Retreat and Conference Center in Emmitsburg, MD, at the foot of Catoctin Mountain. All but three of the 19 women were able to come Friday, and we left after worship Saturday afternoon, with most of us stopping for dinner on the way home.

Many contributed to the planning and execution of the retreat, which focused on the theme of dwelling with God. Using dwelling as a framework we discussed and experienced opening ourselves to God's presence through scripture, nature, psalm songs, others, service and sacrament. There was plenty of laughter, rich sharing, and a few tears. Most of the group was able to delay their return for a final gathering at The Cozy Restaurant in Thurmont, which Fran Knoll had scouted out for us, even though she was gone for the retreat.

The weather was perfect, the women open and caring, and the scheduled allowed both structured and unstructured time to enjoy each other's company and get to know people better, as well as time for self reflection. This was the third annual Wise Women Retreat, and our experience and participation, though always varied, was rich.

I appreciated many things about this retreat, including:

• how well the women mixed and clicked - it was great to see the women of St. Matthews and have non-member and new friends join and so comfortably mix in;
• the number of women that contributed to the program;
• the openness of our sharing;
• the opportunity to get to know new people and more about people I knew;
• the newness and loveliness of the setting, which included a labyrinth;
• the discussion of moving forward with plans to build a peace garden to promote peace and reconciliation;
• the influence of women, not only each other, but the Daughters of Charity, the story of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, and the collection beautiful Madonna’s from all over the world;
• the time to relax and be still; and
• Pastor Wendy, for her organizational, leadership, and great facilitation skills.

We already have plans for the next retreat, scheduled for Saturday, March 6, 2010 at Hallowood Retreat Center, Comus, MD. This will be quite a bit closer, and hopefully will allow even greater participation. Women, mark your calendars!