Join us as we explore the practice of spiritual writing, a gentle and creative way to tap into our interior knowing.

In winter months, as darkness draws close, we turn to practices that offer glimmers of the abundant light within us. The practice of spiritual writing is not intended to produce best sellers or trigger our dread of being evaluated on our compositions; spiritual writing invites us to delve more deeply into the wisdom of our own heart.

In this time together, we’ll explore several different approaches to spiritual writing. You’ll be invited to bring and share a poem or selected prose that speaks to you from any (or no specific) religious tradition. We’ll drawn on the inspiration of those works as a starting point for unedited writing from the heart. From morning pages to a daily examen, from uninterrupted writing to haiku, we’ll write for short periods of time and then pause to reflect individually and together on what is being revealed.

We’ll begin at 9:00am although we invite you to arrive early to settle in; if you need any assistance with using Zoom, please come around 8:30. Throughout the day we’ll take a couple of short breaks with an extended time for lunch on your own. You’ll need a journal or any kind of writing paper and a pen (we’ll discuss why typing on your laptop is a different experience than writing by hand); some element of nature (a stone, a plant, or a view from a nearby window); and a quiet, comfortable space where you can have time apart from the rest of your household. There will be a time to walk outside should you so choose. We will close by 4:00pm.

Our intention is to create a day that’s sufficiently spacious to write, reflect and share. Without pressure or forcing anything, this retreat will encourage us to find the veins of gold too often obscured by darkness. Leave behind expectations and judgment; come and join us with an openness to the beauty and wisdom of your heart’s voice. To register go-https://www.eventbrite.com/.../interfaith-winter-retreat...

The event will be held on Zoom. The room number and link will be emailed the day before the event. Be sure to download the Zoom app on your computer, laptop, or phone.

Retreat Leader: Leah Rampy

Leah is a former Executive Director of Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Washington, DC. She has a passion for leading spiritual retreats and pilgrimages and served as the retreat leader for the 2019 Annual Winter Retreat. She is the founder of and guide for Church of the Wild ~ Two Rivers that meets monthly to encourage deepening our spirituality and remembering our kinship through time in nature. Leah will be offering a class next March on exploring the natural world through Shepherd University’s Lifelong Learning Program and is collaborating on an online class on soil as an antidote to climate chaos. Leah serves on the board of The Center for Spirituality in Nature, Rolling Ridge Study Retreat, and WV Interfaith Power & Light. She and her husband live in Shepherd Village, a cohousing community in Shepherdstown, WV.