Contemplative Dialogue Retreat

Yesterday I finished a week long retreat on Contemplative Dialogue with Jean Holsten, Director of Dialogue Programs from Bread of Life in Sacramento.   Our Congregational Prioress, Sister Gloria Marie Jones, has participated in contemplative dialogue workshops since 2008 and has used it with our  congregational boards, administrators, prioresses and departments at the Motherhouse.  Fifteen of the youngest members of the Congregation participated in the retreat.  In addition to learning the skills for contemplative dialogue we were able to get to know one another on a deeper level.  We plan to continue to meet in the coming years as whole group at least once a year and in small groups of 3-4 to share life, laughter and learnings as we try to apply the contemplative dialogue skills in our daily living.  

I really want to hold the new friendships we are forming as young religious in gentleness and compassion and pray for us to grow in love and understanding of one another for the rest of our lives.  Our living apart makes this a challenge, but all of us are committed to making it happen.  I pray for the graces we will need to happen along the way.  

I came away from the week with a desire to use the ladder of inference tool to assess my own assumptions and how they lead to emotions and actions that are different from others in ministry and community settings.  I want to be more aware of when I am in a caught in a single loop that makes me continue to try to solve problems in the same way with the same result and observe leadership models that are coming from a defended stance or non-defended stance and how those play out.   I want to recognize polarities in myself and use the four quadrant to map out positives and negatives, shared assumptions and outcomes I want to avoid.  I want to read more about Rahner's theology of the human person and use the life frame arenas to consider topics of interest to me from a variety of perspectives.