December 8th, 2020 E-Newsletter
Join us at RING LAKE RANCH for
Renewal in Sacred Wilderness
What more did I
think I wanted? Here is
what has always been.
Here is what will always
- Even in me,
the Maker of all this
returns in rest, even
to the slightest of His works,
a yellow leaf slowly
falling, and is pleased.
~ Wendell Berry, “Sabbaths 1999 VII”~
Information about Ring Lake Ranch, our programs, activities, and rates is available at www.ringlake.org. If you have any questions, e-mail us at info@ringlake.org or call 1.888.458.5253 toll free.
Here is additional information about two of our 2021 seminars:
July 25 – August 7th: Amy Oden – Right Here, Right Now: The Practice of Christian Mindfulness
The pandemic has changed just about everything in our daily lives for now, including, I suspect, how we come at ideas and practices of mindfulness. Where it may once have been a way to escape frenetic schedules, mindfulness may now be a way to deal with the restrictions and losses that have burdened so many of us. Wherever you find yourself these days, Amy has offered a range of resources to help us understand the concept and practice of mindfulness. Two weeks on retreat with Amy will be a fantastic opportunity to consider these ideas in very personal ways but we hope you’ll find helpful things for the coming days in this list, as well.
If you are interested in the neuroscience of mindfulness: Dan Siegel, The Mindful Brain
https://www.drdansiegel.com/books/the_mindful_brain/
Podcasts that touch on a variety of aspects of mindfulness and its benefits:
Hidden Brain, “Beyond Doomscrolling”
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-doomscrolling/id1028908750?i=1000494512439
Hidden Brain, “Deep Work”
https://www.npr.org/2017/07/25/539092670/you-2-0-the-value-of-deep-work-in-an-age-of-distraction
Happiness Lab, “Dial D for Distracted”
https://www.happinesslab.fm/season-2-episodes/episode-6-dial-d-for-distracted
The Growing Edge, Parker Palmer and Carrie Newcomer interview Valerie Kaur on “Revolutionary Love”
Articles and books on ministry and mindfulness:
Gregg Louis Taylor, “Be Where Your Feet Are,” Ministry Matters
https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/9925/be-where-your-feet-are
Brandan Robertson, “Contemplative Activism: The Sacred Path of Resistance,” Ministry Matters
https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/9929/contemplative-activism-the-sacred-path-of-resistance
Barbara Holmes, Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church (2nd edition)
https://www.christianbook.com/unspeakable-contemplative-practices-church-second-edition/barbara-holmes/9781506421612/pd/421610
Aug 22 – 28: Jeff Reed – Water, Watersheds, and Wilderness
When I asked Jeff for additional materials related to his seminar, he commented that Aldo Leopold’s classic essay “The Land Ethic” is as good a place to start as any, since “land and how it is used, or misused, is central to all things in the aquatic world as well.” Even with the seemingly overwhelming environmental issues that Leopold could scarcely have imagined in his day, his essay remains a mainstay of conservation ethics and activity. You can read “The Land Ethic” here: https://www.uky.edu/~rsand1/china2017/library/Leopold1.pdf but do yourself a favor and read the whole of Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac before getting to “The Land Ethic” at the end. Almanac is a beautifully written appreciation of the interaction of nature and people in the best sense and it’s a fitting way to set up the powerful call of “The Land Ethic” at its conclusion.
Of course, Leopold is neither the first nor the last to be concerned with water and land use. Indigenous communities have long been focused on their relationship to land and water and that focus continues to this day. Here is a remarkable speed given by Autumn Peltier of Canada’s Anishinaabe Nation to the United Nations in 2018 when she was just 13 years old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=A6LcaTWTx8g
Seeing water (and land) as things only to be protected can seem like tiresome labor if joy isn’t experienced somewhere along the way. This is an excerpt from Annie Dillard’s classic Pilgrim at Tinker Creek that calls up the beauty and life-giving connection with water that forms the root of all conservation work: https://www.bookscool.com/en/The-Annie-Dillard-Reader-777884/34
Finally, for those who need some visual stimulation, here is a fascinating series of maps that show the catchment areas for watersheds around the world: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/maps-worlds-watersheds/
We hope that these various resources will help you contemplate the significance of water in our lives and, more specifically, motivate you to join us for a great series of conversations with Jeff this summer.
Remember, registration for our 2021 season is open and active! To view the 2021 rates and register for a seminar, please visit our rates page: http://ringlake.org/html/rates.php.
Scholarship opportunities are always available, so don’t let the expense deter you from coming to the Ranch. Our priority is to make sure that everyone who would like to experience “renewal in sacred wilderness” has a chance to do so. Contact Anday Blackmun at andy@ringlake.org or call him at 1.888.458.5253 to request our simple scholarship application or ask any questions.