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The Annual Men's Retreat: May 21 & 23, 2004 by The Rev. Hartshorn Murphy The Annual Men's Retreat will be held Friday, May 21 thru Sunday, May 23 at the Mary and Joseph's Retreat Center in Rancho Palos Verdes. Registrations begin Sunday, Feb. 22 on the patio. Costs are: $250 for a single room and $175 for double occupancy. Our own Laurie Hutzler, who led the successful women's retreat last spring, has agreed to lead the Men's Retreat this year ñ as men, we need to catch up with the women folk. Below is an article by Gretchen Haight about the retreat as it appeared in the Feb. 2003 issue of Ebb and Flow. Be forewarned: space is limited so sign up early. Limited partial scholarships (shared rooms only) are available: see a member of the clergy. Preview by Gretchen Haight: Who am I really? Where am I going? Is it where I want to go? "We all have choices, even when we don't think we do," Laurie Hutzler tells us, as she describes the process she will use during the Women's Retreat to facilitate self discovery and the spiritual path each one of us is walking. Laurie brings to this process all of her experience as a screenwriter, a teacher of screenwriting at the UCLA Film School, and her religious life as a member of St. Augustine's. We are blessed to have Laurie as part of our church family and delighted that she is available and willing to share with us her method for exploring who we are each called to be and how to get there. Laurie works with a diamond-shaped Character Map, as she calls it ñ a map for how to get from where we are to where we're called by God to be. There are questions asked along the way, and how we answer them leads us to actions we might take ñ choices we make. The actions we take create our lives. Sometimes we can't see where we're going, but as we look back, we can see a pattern created from the choices we have made. This is our life story. Life stories are Laurie's business. Whether writing a screenplay herself, or teaching others the art and craft, she is always working with a character and the character's story. Her Character Map provides the diagram for anyone's story; it gives the shape of the story itself. You watch a movie, and the protagonist has her values, acts in certain ways, and we watch her transformation through the interplay between her values and actions. Each of us is no different from a character in a movie. We are the protagonists in our own stories. We're writing our story day by day, of course, but usually don't take the time to stand back and analyze that story. Nor do we have the tools to analyze our own story. That's what Laurie provides us with, and it promises to be an exciting experience for each one of us. We are fortunate to have this to look forward to on our retreat. In an expanded format, which will allow more time to interpret our own diagrams, we will learn from each other's life stories and have time for scriptural reflection. Such reflection includes biblical passages connected with each of the questions Laurie asks. Each St. Augustine's Women's Retreat I've attended has been a wonderful experience, with time for quiet and spiritual reflection as well as time spent getting to know people I know only slightly, those I get to see only in passing before or after services. There are always lots of laughs, and a few tears, as we stretchóor relax intoóbeing our most authentic selves. This year will include all of the fun and the depth we've come to expect of the weekend Ö and more.
Copyright © 2004 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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