Spiritual Getaway

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. 

-Vaclav Havel

Every year the MCC team here in Nicaragua takes the opportunity to have a spiritual retreat.  This year, we were blessed to have our retreat facilitated by Susan Classen, a former MCC worker in both Nicaragua and El Salvador who now works at a Catholic Retreat Center in Kentucky.  The opportunity to reflect and grow with a woman who has spent many of her years living and working in solidarity with the poor in Latin America proved to be fruitful for the team.

As a team we ventured to Miraflor, an almost untouched nature preserve in the northern highlands of Nicaragua.  There we spent time relaxing, going on adventures to waterfalls and cloud forests and spent time reflecting on our work here in Nicaragua.  The time was well spent as we deepened our relationships with one another, refocused ourselves for the work to be done and found ourselves renewed for the work ahead.

Here are some of our favorite quotes that Cassie and I reflected on from the weekend:

Look closely at the present you are constructing.  It should look like the future you are dreaming.

-Alice Walker

Since stepping into new ground involves frequent encounters with not knowing, we need to make friends with this feeling.  It will be a companion on our journey.

-Joanna Macy

See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare, before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

-Isaiah 42:9