Today I am beginning my Hunter’s Retreat at our monastery center. I offer it as a retreat for hunters: hunters of God, hunters of the deep self, hunters of meaning and mystery. I call it THE HEART OF THE HUNTER because the tool we are using for the our hunt is the heart. We will be praying with our aboriginal hearts, our seeking hearts, our undivided hearts, our broken and compassionate hearts. There will be space also for the joyful heart.
I love this retreat. I think it is because I am a bit nomadic by nature and probably belong to the hunters. That’s my tribe! (as opposed to the gatherers who settle into one place, tend the crops and wait for the harvest). Belonging to the Hunter Tribe fits me quite well spiritually; for I am always on the move: searching, seeking, reaching beyond what I can see with my visible eye. My hunt is for spiritual food and deep meanings. My hunt is for The Great Mystery. Jesus, the Christ, is my guide. I feed on eternal questions. In spite of being a hunter I long for solitude and have even taken a vow of stability of life which may not seem to fit with a hunter’s heart. Yet even hunters are called into solitude and quiet. As we wait for our prey we learn to keep vigil in the deep forest of our lives. The Hound of Heaven is also tracking us. And yet, to be hunted by God is not to die but to fall in love.
This evening, then, as I attempt to lead the retreatants (the hunters) into the deep forest of themselves to wait in silence for the mystery to be revealed I, too, will journey with them tracking the Mystery. May you, whoever you are, have faith in your aborginal heart!
I love this retreat. I think it is because I am a bit nomadic by nature and probably belong to the hunters. That’s my tribe! (as opposed to the gatherers who settle into one place, tend the crops and wait for the harvest). Belonging to the Hunter Tribe fits me quite well spiritually; for I am always on the move: searching, seeking, reaching beyond what I can see with my visible eye. My hunt is for spiritual food and deep meanings. My hunt is for The Great Mystery. Jesus, the Christ, is my guide. I feed on eternal questions. In spite of being a hunter I long for solitude and have even taken a vow of stability of life which may not seem to fit with a hunter’s heart. Yet even hunters are called into solitude and quiet. As we wait for our prey we learn to keep vigil in the deep forest of our lives. The Hound of Heaven is also tracking us. And yet, to be hunted by God is not to die but to fall in love.
This evening, then, as I attempt to lead the retreatants (the hunters) into the deep forest of themselves to wait in silence for the mystery to be revealed I, too, will journey with them tracking the Mystery. May you, whoever you are, have faith in your aborginal heart!
