Making Space for the Spirit

Developing a Contemplative Christian Retreat Center

Graves

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781498220767
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

How do we create places and spaces for deepening our spiritual lives? For slowing down so we can notice what really matters to us? For taking time to attend to our own healing and growth? For meeting Jesus in life-transforming ways? And how do we keep these places affordable so that they are accessible to everyone who is seeking--not just those who can afford the high cost? How do we create these spaces and how do we sustain them? These are the questions this book seeks to address as it considers closely and personally the creation and development of one such space. So join me as we listen in on some special stories, hearing how one community held, realized, and sustained their vision to make space for the Spirit, inspiring us to do the same.

VII.

The Hermitage: Realizing the Vision

After ten years of holding the vision for the second site, the most significant obstacles to the third phase of the Rivendell development were finally cleared away and we were ready to begin. As it had been held so it was renewed—by vision. Kathi sent this letter to those whom we invited to be part of the visioning group:

Hi Everyone,

As I think all of you are aware, since the very early days of Rivendell I have had the vision of an additional site that would be dedicated to silence with individual cabins that are simple and nestled in nature. The property called The Hermitage down by Seymour Bay was acquired with this purpose in mind. Through what has been a long process, the property has been released from that commitment. However, another piece of land has now been made available. It is on the other end of the golf course from Seymour Bay and appears to be more suited to our purpose. The intention is that the site will be donated to Rivendell Foundation and the operations would come under the society’s jurisdiction.

Jennifer Graves (who has just joined the society’s board) and I are working together to bring this vision to reality. We would like to gather a group of people to vision together. We plan to begin with one day of discussion and then collectively decide on a planning process. We wanted to invite any of you who might have a particular interest is this vision that is rooted in your own experience in silent retreat or with other similar retreat centers. Please let us know if you would like to be included in this initial meeting.

Blessings,

Kathi

We held the first visioning meeting on April 9th, 2012—Easter Monday, and celebrated Rivendell’s Tenth Anniversary on June 3, 2012. From that first meeting a smaller visioning team was formed of people who were willing to commit to more frequent meetings. The second site finally had its steering committee!

The visioning focus group met through the spring and summer to clarify the unique mandate of the Second Site. We agreed that the new development, now called the Rivendell Hermitage, would embrace Rivendell’s mission statement, identifying itself with the addendum, “The Hermitage is a site particularly dedicated to individuals, silence, and solitude.” We also developed a unique set of six principles that reflected its unique mandate in the overall vision of the Rivendell Retreat Center. In the fall and winter of 2012 and 2013, with the vision and principles guiding the planning, Kathi and I met alternately with the visioning committee and with Don Nicholson and Barbara Whaler to design the main house and apply for a building permit. I recalled Shirley’s journal of Rivendell’s first development when she mentions, “lawyers, lawyers, and more lawyers!” and thought, “permits, permits, and more permits!” Driveway permits, sewage permits, building permits, and occupancy permits—all had forms to fill in, requirements to fulfill, and long periods of waiting, often having to get more information, other approvals, or wait for something to be completed before we could receive our much needed, long awaited, permits.

Prayers and Paths

At the very beginning of the year of preparation, when we had decided to switch the lands I began walking the land, tending the space with prayer each Saturday throughout this period of planning. When I first walked through the land, I was impressed by the abundance of life, old and new, that surrounded us. The longer I walked the land the more I noticed: the young nurse trees such as the Alder and Hemlock, and those stalwarts of more ancient days: Douglas Fir, Cedars, and wonder of wonders, even a 400 year old Pacific Yew! I noticed new grasses naturally restoring old but still walkable logging paths. These were the most accessible places and so the first discovered. Living things filled the forest: Wrens, Towhees, Finches, Robins, Pileated Woodpeckers and their smaller Sapsucker relatives, are just some of the many birds I heard or saw. Deer had made their beds under large old trees for many years while other smaller and more fragile creatures, such as insects, frogs, and salamanders had laid their eggs near the creek and on old, decaying logs. And all around the silence was deep and still and inward.

As I went increasingly deeper into thick, untouched areas, the rocky landscape was covered with tall trees and foxglove, rotting logs and thistle, spreading salal and ferns, all of which created a nearly impassable yet beautiful undergrowth. The trees reached high over my head as I “lifted my eyes to heaven” and saw the canopied sky. I wonder if Jesus, when he “lifted his eyes to heaven” before he prayed, was met with any such wonders in his desert surroundings, or if the sky itself was beautiful in its vastness. These days of prayer remain some of my most precious memories of the development. The land was still reclaiming its wildness and I felt a permitted intruder. All of creation around me spoke of the glory of God in the hidden places of the world, in the unknown retreatants who would make their pilgrimage here, and of my own unknown silent soul.

The Hermitage land is shaped roughly like a south pointing triangle, bordered along one side by the year-round Josephine Creek, a gently used road on the other, and along the bottom private property with a portion of designated parkland. When the visioning committee met for the first time on Easter Monday we introduced them to the contours and shape of the site and spent a few hours in the afternoon walking or sitting on the land in solitary silence and prayer. The darkness created by the vast overshadowing trees and the fallen trunks and dense undergrowth made it difficult to walk the land and invited us to create gentle, meandering paths.

In May a group of high school students32 came and created our first trail from the entrance of the land to the ancient Yew tree that stood at the opening of a circle of old cedars—a place that had come to feel especially sacred to us.

We received our driveway permit on Oct. 10, 2013 and began clearing for it soon after. I was amazed at what a difference a driveway and a walking trail make! Suddenly the forest I had slowly stumbled over was open and easily accessed. The site seemed much smaller than it had when it took me two or more hours to make my way from one side of the lot to the other!

Construction Days

Building the House

On November 2nd, 2013 we held the ground breaking and finally, after much long waiting, on November 6th we received our building permit and site preparations began. The early part of building was very slow and complicated compared to our expectations. The site was unserviced. Since we wanted to keep our environmental footprint as small as possible, choosing responsible power and water sources became a consuming concern. In the end we decided to connect with hydro and access our water from the stream using the water license attached to the property. Unfortunately, this plan for our water resulted in unforeseen complications and a two year process of working on an agreement with the neighbors. We finally decided to hook up with the local utility.

We had to blast a larger area for the house than we were prepared for, the foundation was larger than anticipated, the septic field needed costly work, and site preparation costs continued to escalate and take far more time than we had expected. Finally, after waiting three months for the site to be readied for building, Kathi’s nephew, Cody Bentall33 and crew began building. While we waited for site preparations I created a blog to tell the story of the progress of our development as it unfolded.34 As I kept the story going on the blog I noted, “The building goes up so fast I can barely keep track of all the changes.” Cody and company began building on January 16th, 2014 and the metal roof went up on March 25th. The inside of the building was finished in early June. We had an effective temporary water solution but were still waiting for hydro. Finally, on July 30th we received our hydro connection and could apply for our occupancy permit.

Raising the Shelters

On August 9th, 2014 we began to host a series of weekend teams to build three individual sleeping shelters. Two shelters were funded by the Sisters of St. Anne and one was funded by generous donations from members of the Anglican parish, St. Francis of Assisi35. There was great excitement in the air as we began to build. From the very beginning of our visioning we had wanted to build the cabins with volunteer labor. On the one hand it was, theoretically, a cost-saving choice, but more importantly it was in keeping with our vision of soul hospitality and simplicity. We wanted the Hermitage developed by a community of people, not just one individual or company.

As the time approached Kathi recommended we hire Thomas Dickau, whom we had both known for several years, to oversee the teams of volunteers and the building of the shelters. Thomas was about to complete his carpentry apprenticeship and had already participated in local building projects, many with a social justice component. He was personable, reliable and a proven team builder and leader. I felt excited when Kathi suggested Thomas to me. She connected with him and he agreed to lead the building teams of volunteers to build three sleeping shelters the first year and two more the year after.36

The teams came and brought volunteer cooks and sleeping mats with them. We paid for their transportation and their food and they slept in the main house on their mats.

The first team prepared each shelter site, set the cement foundation blocks in position, and built the wooden platforms upon which each hermitage cabin rests. The second weekend a men’s home group from Grandview Calvary Baptist Church worked far harder than they had anticipated to carry hundreds of pounds of SIPs37 to the sites and begin raising the walls and roof. A few teachers, including my husband and a friend visiting from Vancouver Island, came by after the shelter raising weekend to put on the ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Introduction
• Acknowledgements
• I. Holding the Vision
• II. Realizing the Vision
• III. Enfleshing and Sustaining the Vision
• IV. Living Out the Vision
• V. Renewing the Vision
• VI. The Hermitage: Holding the Vision
• VII. The Hermitage: Realizing the Vision
• Appendix A
• Appendix B
• Appendix C
• Readings and Prayers for the Building of the Hermitages
• Bibliography