Camping Trip & Spiritual Retreat August 23, 2006

Camping Trip & Spiritual Retreat

Well, I just returned from a camping trip and a two day/one night spiritual retreat at St. Gregory of Sinai Monastery (http://www.gsinai.com/index.html ) with my boys.

Our first few nights camping were spent with another family- we camped near Lake Alpine which is in Bear country; and yes, a bear did come into the campground! The family we were camping with were terrified and panic stricken (at least two were hyperventiliating) and got in their van and drove away about 2:00am when other campers began sounding air horns and banging on pots! My boys and I remained in camp and went back to sleep. We did however, pack up our tents, along with them, to camp further down the mountain where they felt more comfortable camping.

After two days, me and the boys went on our own and drove back up to bear country to camp and trout fish for a few days. My oldest caught a few trout which we baked in foil in the coals of our campfire. It was delicious!

We finished our retreat at St Gregorys, an Eastern Orthodox Monastery. They were very welcoming, gave each of us a private "cell," allowed us to eat with them and attend their services, though we were not permitted to share in Eucharist (we were allowed to recieved the antidorin or blessed bread after the Liturgy). They spent a great amount of time with us, showing us around their property where they grow their own gardens, compost heaps, some trees, and an Olive Mill. They are also professional Icon painters and paint large frescoes and icons around the world.

We were also able to take a few photos with some of the monks in front of a bush grown from a clipping of the Burning Bush from the Monastery of St Catherine's in Egypt on Mount Sinai! http://360.yahoo.com/fraidanhix

You can see some of their icon work at the following sites:
http://www.gsinai.com/rw/icons/icon_workshop.php or http://images.google.com/images?q=st+gregory+of+sinai+monastery&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images

Ancient Ancestors Paleo-Orthodox Reading Discussion Group

Ancient Ancestors Paleo-Orthodox Reading Discussion Group

If interested sign up at : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ICCECgroup/

This forum has been changed to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AncientAncestors/

A Charismatic Episcopal Church (ICCEC) discussion and prayer group. This is not an official CEC forum but will be used by members or Inquirers of the ICCEC to seriously discuss matters of the theology, practices, and spirituality of the ICCEC; to become better acquainted with others in our Church; to share prayer requests, etc; and all with the goal of edifying each other, deepening our faith in Jesus Christ, and strengthening our fidelity to our Patriarch, Bishops, Clergy, and Members. Also, a meeting place for Christians to read and discuss the writings of our Ancient Ancestors in the Faith and Classical Literature, such as St Augustine or Plato. The theological perspective and thrust will be that of Paleo-Orthodoxy, a term coined by Dr. Thomas C. Oden of Drew University. Paleo-Orthodoxy refers to a theological viewpoint or movement which seeks to rediscover and return to the "Classical Christianity" of the Early Christians and the Church Fathers. It seeks to understand the Consenual Teachings of the Early Church as defined by the Canon or Rule of St Vincent of Lerins: "'quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est' ('that which has been believed in every place, in every time, by everyone').As the ICCEC is part of the Convergence Movement which seeks to blend the early Christian expressions of the Liturgical/Sacramental, Evangelical/Biblical, and Charismatic/contemplative traditions, the study and discussion of paleo-orthodoxy should be of interest and value.

Just a few clarifications regarding the possibility of a group reading/discussion...
1. READING LIST. The Books we would be reading would largely be "Classical" Books, both Christian and Non-Christian. As CECHobbit suggested it would include "Paleo-orthodox" reading and discussion. Paleo-Orthodox is just a fancy way of referring to reading the Church Fathers and issues of Consensus in the first millenium of the Church. So, our reading list would include some books by or related to the work Thomas C. Oden, such as the book edited by Fr Tanner mentioned in a previous post, that would help us better understand the Church Fathers and their approach to the Scriptures; but would also include reading some of the works of the Fathers themselves, such as At Augustine or St John of Damascus, etc. We would also read classical books such as Plato or Dante; as well as more contemporary authors such as G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lews

2. How quickly would we be moving through books? Most of us that would participate in the reading group I assume would be working adults & bi-vocational clergy and our time for reading may be limited. So, we would use the "Slow Reading" method.
Slow Reading was originally coined by Nietzche (not that I endorse his philosophy). The phase, "slow reading," is taken from Nietzsche. In the preface to Daybreak he writes:

"A book like this, a problem like this, is in no hurry; we both, I just as much as my book, are friends of lento. It is not for nothing that I have been a philologist, perhaps I am a philologist still, that is to say, A TEACHER OF SLOW READING:- in the end I also write slowly. Nowadays it is not only my habit, it is also to my taste - a malicious taste, perhaps? - no longer to write anything which does not reduce to despair every sort of man who is 'in a hurry'. For philology is that venerable art which demands of its votaries one thing above all: to go aside, to take time, to become still, to become slow - it is a goldsmith's art and connoisseurship of the WORD which has nothing but delicate, cautious work to do and achieves nothing if it does not achieve it lento. But precisely for this reason it is more necessary than ever today, by precisely this means does it entice and enchant us the most, in the midst of an age of 'work', that is to say, of hurry, of indecent and perspiring haste, which wants to 'get everything done' at once, including every old or new book:- this art does not so easily get anything done, it teaches to read WELL, that is to say, to read slowly, deeply, looking cautiously before and aft, with reservations, with doors left open, with delicate eyes and fingers...My patient friends, this book desires for itself only perfect readers and philologists: LEARN to read me well!" http://www.freelance-academy.org/slowread.htm

This is also basically the method recommended by Thomas Oden for reading the Church Fathers:
"Simply Listen Oden's method is surprisingly simple: He tells his audience to "simply listen." Oden writes of his own journey, saying, "By the middle of the 1970s the idea had gradually begun to dawn upon me with increasing force that it is not my task to create a theology."27 Oden was learning "that the deposit of truth is already sufficiently given, fully and adequately."28 He says, "What I needed to do was listen. But I could not listen because I found my modern presuppositions constantly tyrannizing my listening. I realized that I must listen intently, actively, without reservation. Listen in such a way that my whole life depended upon hearing. Listen in such a way that I could see telescopically beyond my modern myopia, to break through walls of my modern prison, and actually hear voices from the past with different assumptions entirely about the world and time and human culture. Then I began reading the decisions of the ancient Ecumenical Councils. Only then in my forties did I begin to become a theologian."29 http://www.ovrlnd.com/GeneralInformation/Oden_Method.html

So, long story short, is that we would not need to be in a great hurry but to enjoy and savor the reading. We can discuss more exact expectations as we go along.

3. This would NOT be an academic reading group. Academics may beinvolved or not depending on the person sharing but this would not bethe overall intent of the group. Some may have college or graduatedegress, others only a high school diploma. The intent would be to read,to savor, and discuss from whatever one's education background not to berestricted from discussion due to academic standing.