| “Beginner’s Mind: The Spiritual Practices of Discipleship” 2003 Lenten Retreat |  |
| “Beginner’s Mind: The Spiritual Practices of Discipleship” 2003 Lenten Retreat | |
Zen philosophy tells us that in the mind of an expert there are few possibilities, yet in the mind of the beginner, there are many. The St. Joan of Arc Lent retreat “Beginner’s Mind: The Spiritual Practices of Discipleship” was an opportunity to reach into our curious, novice selves to explore openly and deeply what it means to be a disciple in the world today. It was a day of listening and reflecting, of sharing and creating. But most of all, it was a day of learning - not only from our retreat leaders but also from each other.
The retreat, led and coordinated by Mark Scannell, Lou Hendricks, Tom Smith-Myott, Mary Eve Thomas and Rachel Kroog, was a symphony in three movements. Each movement focused on a different aspect of discipleship. We began by greeting each other and reflecting on what brought us to the retreat. For some it was to learn about discipleship; another hoped it would be a way to become “unstuck”; one woman looked forward to the wisdom she would gain from others; another felt it would help us center on what is truly important in life; one man was responding to a feeling inside telling him to come; and for a small group of young adults, it was preparation for confirmation. We followed this sharing by the beautiful song “It’s in Every One of Us…to be wise.” This was just one of the many songs led that day by the musical talents of Rachel Kroog and Shannon, on the piano.
The first movement of our symphony examined the question “what is a disciple.” We listened and reflected as the retreat leaders read passages highlighting many of the attributes of a disciple. These passages were written from disciples from the near and distant past. The reflections each began “A disciple/discipleship is…”
After listening and reflecting on a number of readings we prayed to draw on courage and to act on the words and examples of our ancestors. We were introduced to our “theme” song of the retreat - written by Rachel. This song was sung throughout the day as a common thread weaving each part together: |
| The painting of the faceless monk was created by parishioner and facilitator Mary Eve Thomas |
The second movement explored the spiritual practices of discipleship. Three important practices were highlighted:
With prayer we were reminded of the importance of gratitude - that our life is a gift - we did not make it, we received it. We were asked to think about the things we are grateful for. We discussed how gratitude is the opposite of regret - that it is easy to wallow in regret but that it leads to sadness, self-pity and despair. We were challenged to take reasons of regret and shift them into gratitude. Can we give thanks for our lives with all that we have and have not done? We were reminded that a principle challenge of discipleship is finding reasons to be grateful and giving thanks.
With alms giving we thought about the many things that we could give away -our time, our treasure, our talent. We were reminded of the importance of giving with compassion 
and how it can lead to change within ourselves - to be open, to be learners. Being a disciple is not about being a “star” for others to see our actions. Instead it is about helping us to be learners - to be curious - to be part of a community of experts and beginners.
Moving into small groups, we reflected on the three spiritual practices. We discussed how confusion is a creative place to be - a beginners place; how it is hard to be a peacemaker when you’re not at peace with yourself; how to maintain a child’s sense of wonder and honesty; that a disciple is committed to learning - not always doing - that you can be a disciple by learning. And after discussing and sharing these thoughts with the large group we knew there was just one more road to travel - to the banquet table!
Now, one hidden benefit in the SJA retreat was definitely the lunch - shrimp Creole soup and seafood au gratin soup, creamy potato salad, pasta salad and cole slaw, chunky bread and bread with little pieces of goodness in it and green St. Patrick’s Day cookies. Are you kidding me? This was no fast. But it did give us the opportunity to share our stories about the things accomplished in our neighborhoods - like closing saunas, or aiding robbery victims or looking out for each other. These were the everyday examples of discipleship that we have all seen or experienced.
We regrouped for our third movement - reflecting on present and future of discipleship. We considered: where is discipleship taking us? What will it look like in the future? We looked at the values of Christian discipleship in the context of American culture and the shift of consciousness occurring. These values included:
We looked at how Christianity works within the values of the culture. In the U.S., some positive values are our optimism, our individual rights, our freedom, our democracy and our sense of justice. Yet as disciples, we can run into snags with the negative tendencies of our culture: that Americans can be aggressive and not self-reflective; we can be individualistic; we are competitive; we focus on success - failure is seen as a disappointment; we are consumeristic; we are violent.
As disciples, we must work to shift from a dominating system to a partnership model - one that brings out the best in people rather than trying to control them. The dominating system is based on the idea of scarcity - we need to control people to control what is available. Yet, Jesus preached plenty - God is not stingy. If we live in a community of sharing, we will find there is plenty. We considered: what will discipleship look like in a partnership world? We reflected on the parables, how they are about a partnership way of living: “the kingdom of heaven is like…” We were reminded that the life of a disciple is the life of conversion - an ongoing conversion of growth, learning, deepening, and broadening. In a community of disciples, there is much more wisdom. We discussed how disciples are interested in spirituality and not religion, which leaves them (us) open to influences from all over. We reflected on how being a disciple today is being in a minority.
We concluded our three movements by creating our own visions of discipleship out of clay. After several minutes of busy molding, the group produced amazing results including:
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