May 4 - 10, 2008

Registration fee: $730 ($250 registration + $480 housing & meals at Casa del Sol)
After May 1: $830 ($350 registration + $480 housing & meals at Casa del Sol)

This retreat would invite participants to examine the grief issues in their own lives – death, divorce, life changes, illness, etc. – and the places in their souls where they need to be forgiven and the people and the situations to whom they need to offer forgiveness.  A long time ago a counselor told me that the first question he asks clients (in one way or another) is, “What have you lost lately?” Losses, large and small, are a part of the human condition and when recognized can enable growth and healing through forgiveness. 

Suggested reading for this week:

A Grace Disguised:  How the Soul Grows Through Loss  by Jerry Sittser

Forgive and Forget:  Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve by Lewis B. Smedes

The Solace of Fierce Landscapes by Belden Lane

Dark Night of the Soul  by St. John of the Cross.

Margaret Guelker, Andover, MN Margaret is the Executive Pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Blaine, MN.  Her interest in the healing aspects of the desert experience has led her to Ghost Ranch.