June 2011
Easter greetings from the Desert Foundation!

As spring arrives and summer approaches, we remind you of Tessa's upcoming workshop June 10-12, in Boulder:
Desert Wisdom from the Christian and Celtic Mystics
Shambhala Mountain Center, Boulder, Colorado.

In the midst of our harried lives resides vast, unencumbered spaciousness and stillness. For millennia and across many wisdom traditions, teachers have drawn upon the inspiration of the desert to access this inner expanse. In what ways do our lives relate to the great wisdom figures of the desert, such as Abba Moses, Sts. Brigid, Columba, Patrick, and Amma Syncletica? Drawing on teachings of the Christian and Celtic mystics and other desert traditions, Tessa guides us through the practices of silence, meditation, poetry, creative writing, and immersion in nature to explore our own desert wisdom.

Participants should bring a notebook, a favorite poem, sturdy shoes, and a spirit of adventure.

To register, please visit www.shambhalamountain.org, call 1.888.788.7221, or email callcenter@shambhalamountain.org.

Meanwhile, Fr. Dave just accepted a last-minute invitation to be chaplain for Image Journal's Glen Workshop East at Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts June 12-19. The Glen Workshop is a summer institute for artists, writers, and spiritual wayfarers. This summer's theme is:

Acts of Attention: Art as Discovery

Fr. Dave will lead evening worship services based on poets such as St. John of the Cross and T.S. Eliot. He has been associated with the Glen for seven years, and treasures its vibrant community of artists from all over America. There are still a few openings for workshops. To find out more, visit http://imagejournal.org/page/events/the-glen-workshop/2011/east. This will be a rich opportunity to work with and listen to writers such as Bret Lott, Sara Zarr, and Scott Russell Sanders. Singer-songwriter Kate Campbell will lead a songwriting workshop, and Fr. Dave hopes to "draft" her into singing in at least one of our evening worship services.

Even if you cannot attend Tessa's workshop in Boulder or the Glen East Workshop, you may know someone who can. Please spread the word.

Blessings to you in this Easter season.

Let him easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us, be a crimson-crested east.
(Gerard Manley Hopkins, "The Wreck of the Deutschland")