A Weekend Retreat

Based on Jewel Shuey’s “Easter Lilies in November”
[See “Easter Lilies” below.]

INTRODUCTION

This retreat must be held in genuinely accessible space-even if no one appears to need it. If you have questions about what accessible space requires, please contact the UCC Disabilities Ministries at 216.736.3838. All materials you send out and use at the retreat should be printed in 14-point print.

FRIDAY EVENING

Gather participants with food, either the evening meal or a simple “come off the road” snack. Be sure to include a welcoming grace.

OPENING WORSHIP

Opening Prayer

We gather here this evening to worship you, O Holy One. We gather as women, created in your image, to know you and your will better. We gather to laugh and learn, and to be your faithful servants. Help us to do all these things as we see your face in our faces, and your miracles in everyday life. We ask all this in the name of Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

Hymn

“How Great Thou Art” is suggested by Jewel Shuey, the essay writer. The hymn can be found in the Methodist and Presbyterian hymnals. “Bring Many Names,” 11 in The New Century Hymnal, is another choice.

Scripture Reading

Psalm 139 (one woman will read aloud, but have copies for all).

Reflection

Each person will reflect in silence on the entire Psalm or whatever portion caught one’s attention (10 minutes).

Community Building
(Break into groups, 5-10 in number, depending on size of entire retreat group.)

Reread Psalm 139.
Ask each woman to share the phrase, section, or word that struck her as significant, interesting, or meaningful. Go around slowly, value what each has to say, do not challenge or debate, just live with each response.

As a group, “rewrite” the Psalm in modern English based on what the group has heard.

Read the “new Psalm” to the larger group.

Post the “new Psalm” on the wall for the weekend.

SATURDAY MORNING

8-9 a.m. Breakfast

9:15-10:15 a.m. Distribute copies of Jewel Shuey’s essay, “Easter Lilies in November.”* Have one woman read the essay aloud (make sure she has a copy prior to reading it in the group).
Break into small groups and discuss:

l. The essay itself

2. A time of trial each woman has experienced-was jewel’s essay helpful? realistic? encouraging? discouraging?

10:15-10:30 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m.-noon Discussion (small groups-same or new)

Discuss what you know about disability-your own or others, accessibility, welcoming people with disabilities.:

Use selected essays from the entire “Women’s Mosaic Series” packet-at least two to a group. Read the essay aloud, use the suggested questions for each one. Reflect on what each writer is saying. Suggestion: Do not use Doris Powell’s essay at this time.

Noon-1:00 p.m. Lunch

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

This is a spiritual retreat, so retreat. Walk, talk, nap, pray. Take time for yourself If you keep reading Genesis 1:26 and on, you will see that even God rests!

SATURDAY EVENING

5:30-6:30 p.m. Dinner

6:45-9:00 p.m. Program

We, who are active in the church, often do a lot of praising of God and that is very fine. There is a lot for which to praise God. Yet, we sometimes forget to lament. Lamenting is a time-honored way of communicating (see the Book of Lamentations … read a little aloud) with God. Read Doris Powell’s essay “Treasure in Earthen Vessels:” You might listen to selected pieces of “blues” tunes … ask a member of the group ahead of the retreat to suggest some … play music quietly in the background as you talk.

As a group, or in small groups, answer the questions and do all or some of the suggested activities Doris Powell suggests at the end of her essay.

Homework assignment: after you return to your room, write a lament to God. You may, or may not, wish to share it with someone else tomorrow. Write a lament and reflect on how you feel about what you said to God.

SUNDAY MORNING

8:45-9:30 a.m. Breakfast

9:45 a.m. Worship

Call to Worship

Leader: Where can we go from your spirit? Where can we flee from your presence?

People: It was you who formed my innermost parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Leader: We are fearfully and wonderfully made, wonderful are your works.

People: In your book were written all the days formed for me when none of them yet existed.

Leader: We come into this sacred space with joy.

Prayer of Confession

Holy One, we confess that we come to worship with bias and prejudice and ignorance. We are sorry. We will risk learning and changing. We will risk asking difficult questions. Please forgive us and help us to see you in all the wonderfully and fearfully made people of this world.

Assurance of Pardon

Leader: Be assured, beloved people of God, we/you are a forgiven people. Now go a new way.

People: Thank you. Amen!

Hymn

“We Yearn, O Christ, for Wholeness” 179 TNCH

Meditation

Ask, in advance, three women to be prepared to respond to the work you have done together this weekend. Each woman should talk for about five to seven minutes.

Prayers of the People

Ask for three volunteers to pray. Ask for prayers from the group. Conclude with the Lord’s

Prayer.

Hymn

“Called as Partners in Christ’s Service” 495 TNCH

Benediction (with all gathered in a circle, holding hands)

Go, my sisters, go in God’s glory, just as you are. Go reflecting the image of God. Go as a woman who is welcome in God’s world and welcoming to all of God’s children.

Invocation

How great thou are, my God. We bring you praise as we begin to work together, as we read this essay, and look for you in our lives. Open our hearts to see our lives in the lives of others. Help our interconnectedness lighten our burdens, make paths easier for others, and be the people you wish us to be. How great you are, our God. Amen.

PSALM 139, 46:10; PROVERBS 2:1-11; JEREMIAH 28:11-13; ISAIAH 61:1-2; COLOSSIANS 1:15-20

Meditation *”Easter Lilies in November”

THE FOLIAGE IN NEW ENGLAND has been exceptionally beautiful and long lasting; perhaps God knew we needed it. After several nights with temperatures below freezing, the summer flowers and most of the fall flowers are gone. Only a few precious, colorful leaves remain. Winter is almost here. Oh, what that cold weather does to my hurting body, mind, and soul. I live with chronic pain, depression, fibromyaliga, cluster headaches, and several other health conditions. The first accident/collision was almost twenty-one years ago, only nine months after my marriage to my husband, Merlin, and my move from Alabama to Connecticut. I was a widow when I met Merlin. My late husband died of a heart attack, kissing me good night.

Over the years I have lived with and struggled with disabilities. My Creator, my Messiah, has given me strength and inherent power to start and stay involved with the disability community. Many women, young and old, able-bodied and disabled, have inspired me to have hope in today and tomorrow. Some days the pain is so overpowering that I can’t get out of bed. I know God is
there, but I ask “where?” I just pray, pray, cry, moan, and even laugh. Sometimes laughter is the only medicine.

Bernie S. Siegel, M.D., in his book, Love, Medicine, and Miracles: Lessons Learned about Self-healing from a Surgeon’s Experience with Exceptional Patients (New York: Harper and Row, 1986) reminds me of this natural, God-given healing power. That fall, when Merlin was diagnosed with, perhaps, a fatal heart condition, I cried out “Where are you my God? Remind me you are with me, in the depth of despair, as I fall to pieces, again and again. But, with the mortar of your love and peace, you give me a beautiful piece of your love and joy.” As I open my door to view a magnificent sunrise, there in my garden is an Easter lily with, not one, but two, beautiful white blossoms! How great thou art, my Creator and salvation!

I am blessed. I had a Christian heritage. I have a ministry and I know that God has plans for me. I am blessed with a loving husband, a mother, a mother-in-law (my father and father-in-law lived into their eighth decade), two sisters, a large extended family and many good friends. Oh, how I give thanks!

I gave birth to three beautiful daughters. I inherited another beautiful daughter and handsome twin sons when I married their father. I also have two beautiful stepdaughters from a past marriage. In my life today, I also have nine babies, my grandchildren, ages three through eighteen years.

They are all pieces of me, all pieces of you, my Creator. Help me to remember you formed each one. I worry about the daughter with diabetes, the daughter who may have MS, the daughter whose only son has a traumatic brain injury; my man-child, and my teenaged grandsons, whose father chose not to see them and be part of their lives. Why can’t I trust you, my God, with all the hurts each one will suffer in the world? For each question, I do not have the answers. I want to protect and hold my children close. I remember this and am reminded by many others, including the Rev. Robert Schuller, that “life’s not fair, but God is good:” I know and believe this is true. But what I want for each one is to know your love and salvation for eternal life. I praise you and thank you for the miracle of life. For the wonderful way you made us, so whole, so perfect, in your image, for the treasure of love and forever.

I feel so fragmented, so broken into so many pieces. How I hate the pain; always the pain. Is pain my enemy? Is fatigue my enemy?

I feel so weary, so tired all the way into the future. My body, my spirit, my mind will not cooperate. This is not a pretty sight. Where am I? Who am I? When will I be (find) me? How can I bring the good news to the oppressed? When I can’t get out of bed, out of my house? Are these my adversaries? Your adversaries? I will triumph! The power of love. You, my God, my Creator, made me in your image. I look again, inside and outside of my body, my spirit, my soul. I am perfect. I am whole. In the middle of the darkest night, the son, your son shines. I am your child.

Years ago, on a visit to Israel with a study group of persons with disabilities, I remember seeing a dirty, mosaic floor that was built thousands of years ago. When we splashed small amounts of water on it, the stones looked new, beautiful, and magnificent beyond words. I, we, are just like that floor, each piece, the power of one, put together, by the mortar of God’s love and Son shine from our Creator. A sight to behold!

I have always thought of me, all of me, in many pieces! These pieces are held together with the mortar of God’s love. I share the view of the Rev. Harold H. Wilke in his book, Angels on My Shoulders and Muses at My Side (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1999). There are many ways God can put together the pieces of our lives. Wilke, a good friend to many of us, was born without arms. He has lived a rich, long life in his eight decades plus of life. He has served as a minister in the United Church of Christ; he is a husband, a father, and a lifelong advocate with and for people with disabilities. Wilke’s life is an example of God’s power in the world to overcome obstacles and transform the pieces of one’s life into a masterpiece.

In celebration of women from ancient times through modern times, I give praise and thanks to God the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. We are each a piece of the beauty, excellence, and wholeness of Her creation. We are God’s own masterpiece.

WE102
Designed and printed by United Church Resources, Local Church Ministries

Women’s Mosaic Series 2002
UCC Women’s Resource
Margaret (Peg) Slater, Editor

WE102
Designed and printed by United Church Resources, Local Church Ministries