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Forward to a friend.
Like us on Facebook.
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The Power of Love
My favorite college professor liked to say with a smile, “Being grown up ain’t for sissies.” He was acknowledging that we all get hurt. We all have scars. Love, I think, is the best balm for pain. Loneliness, betrayal, loss, anger, neglect, injustice, financial trouble, watching loved ones struggle, disappointment, unrequited love, fear, abuse, bigotry, death: We wound each other in so many ways, as does the process of life. The saving grace, it looks to me, is the love we can share.
If I “do not have love, I am nothing.”
–1 Corinthians 13:2
Even if my pain is born of nothing more than existential angst, love–giving and getting–is what makes bearable the knowledge that my entire life is naught but a tiny, meaningless flicker of light in the vast, cold, dark emptiness of time and space. Being capable of great love is our most honorable aspiration and loving lavishly our most important achievement.
This is why I am so intensely drawn and committed to the Christine Center. This is a place of deep, powerful, abiding love. When I walk the trails, I believe I see the love rising from the Earth, smell it in the air, and feel it in the breeze that washes over me. Shoulder-to-shoulder with the Christine Center staff, I can hear the love in their voices and witness it in their work. They are natural, unaffected folk who openly express love for each other, for you, for the center, and for our mission, whether they are cooking, cleaning, building or teaching. Communing with our guests, our retreatants, our facilitators, and our long-term extended network of kindred souls, the love is palpable.
Come for the peace; stay for the love. The love here soothes, heals, restores, renews, uplifts, inspires, and empowers. You can find the loving spirit and divine presence in the relationships, the interactions, here, both with other people and the Earth. You may find a new life. I know, because it’s happening to me.
Russell King, executive director
(Read more of Russell’s thoughts on the Christine Center
here
.)
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Small ways of supporting the Christine Center
While you shop
.
Did you know you can support the Christine Center while you shop? Simply go to AmazonSmile and designate the Christine Center as the organization you’d like to support. When you shop at AmazonSmile, a portion of your purchase will be automatically donated to help support the Center’s mission of spiritual deepening for global transformation. For more information about the AmazonSmile program, go to
smile.amazon.com.
Sponsor a hermitage
. A pledge of $500 per year for three years. The funds are used for repairs, upgrades, and replacing worn out furnishings.
Sponsor a bench
. A donation of $500 marks an bench in your name, or perhaps as a tribute in the name of someone you wish to honor.
Participate in our drawing
. The prizes are on display at the Christine Center, and the lucky winners will be announced at the Hilde-Fest on Sept. 23.
Angels Gifts
. You can donate to a fund created to respond to emergencies here at the Christine Center.
Recurring donations
. You can designate an amount to automatically transfer from your account to the Christine Center every month.
In-kind donations
. You will find a “wish list” on our website that lists items in need at the Christine Center.
Planned giving
. The Legacy Circle is composed of forward-thinking donors who have chosen to make their core values known to future generations through one of many different types of planned gifts.
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Gain momentum with traditional and emergent men's work...
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Men’s Summer Retreat
August 13 – 17 (Monday-Friday)
With Endel Kallas
Tuition: $150, plus meals and lodging
This past January some two dozen men gathered to deepen and explore a consciousness of their sacred task in this world.. Practicing head, heart, and body presence, they shared their personal stories to nourish a fresh sense of collective being as men. This fresh emergence of mythopoetic meaning and creative purpose continues to spring forth from a spiritual center at once both the inimitable core of selfhood and the unique offerings of the Christine Center. Please consider joining us to continue this flourishing by joining us in participation and co-creation at our Men’s Summer Retreat.
Learn more
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Dive into sacred centering spirit...
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Holy Spirit, Mother Mary, the Saints and Me: Three Evenings of Exploration into Christian Meditation and Contemplative Prayer
August 14, 21 & 28 (Tuesday Evenings) 6:00pm-7:30pm
Annie Lea with Franciscan Sisters: Marge Zulaski and Gabriele Uhlein
Suggested donation: $10
Have you ever wondered if there is Christian contemplation for ordinary folks? Is there a foundation for mindfulness in Christianity? Did Jesus meditate? How can I? Hosted by Annie Lea, these three evenings are a lovely blend of practice and conversation ideal for all levels. Explore beginning meditation and gently deepen your prayer in a circle of shared contemplation in the natural sanctuary of the Christine Center. We will meditate, reflect and learn from each other!
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Renew, restore, and rejuvenate...
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Yoga Nidra 24: A Day of Deep Relaxation
August 21 – 22 (Tuesday–Wednesday)
With Ann Swanson, E-RYT, RYT 500
Tuition: $95, plus meals and lodging
Enjoy 24 hours of Restoration and Rejuvenation through the easiest yoga practice of all – simple, deep, natural rest! The Christine Center welcomes you to a monthly day designated for health, well-being, and ease. Each month, one of our featured instructors will offer a mid-week Yoga Nidra based program designed to help you experience quiet clarity and calm from the top of your head to the tips of your toes.
Join
us as we take a 24 hour “time out” from our busy lives to unwind one serene breath at a time. You may even choose to extend your stay and
create
your own customized personal retreat. Our woodland sanctuary awaits you!
Learn more
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Stretch out, unwind, and breathe...
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The Art of Relaxation
August 24 – 26 (Friday-Sunday)
With Tracy Hart, CYT
Tuition sliding scale: $100 – $150, plus meals and lodging
Learn techniques to relax the mind, release the nervous system and develop an overall sense of peace and tranquility. Sessions will incorporate periods of yoga exercises, breath work, conscious relaxation, Yoga Nidra and seated meditation. It will also include a restorative yoga session with crystal singing bowls. There will be personal time to commune with nature or in the recuperative act of rest. Please bring a yoga mat and 2 firm blankets if possible. All levels welcome. Enjoy!
Learn more
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Awaken to greater attention and intention...
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Speaking Peace: What you say next can change your world
Enriching life through compassionate communication
August 24 – 26 (Friday-Sunday)
The event starts at 7:00 pm on Friday and ends at Noon on Sunday.
With Wade Britzius
Tuition: $150, plus meals and lodging
In this workshop we will discover and practice the tools of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), developed by Marshall Rosenberg Ph.D. These simple but powerful concepts and practices are supporting people around the world, on many different paths, from all different cultures, to live out the life they are seeking. NVC points to the thinking, and especially the language that can shift our attention and our intention toward the universal as we move through the ups and downs of daily life. From this place, no matter what our path, we have increased capability to actualize our spiritual understanding.
Learn more
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Another way you can help
The Christine Center depends on the volunteer leadership of its board of directors and committees. Currently, we are seeking members for our Finance Committee, Donor Development (fundraising) Committee, and Strategic Planning Committee. Serving on a committee is a great way for those who love the Christine Center to get to know the center better, explore the possibility of future board membership, and contribute to the overall health of the center. The committees most often meet via computer conference, so travel is kept to a minimum. The primary qualifications to serve on a committee are that you know the center, support the center’s mission, and can work well with peers and staff in our collegial atmosphere. If you (or someone you know) can also bring to the table abilities in fundraising, financial oversite, or accounting, these skills are currently in particular need.
The Board Development Committee evaluates potential committee members and makes recommendations to the board chair, who makes the committee appointments. If this opportunity to help the Christine Center move into its future strikes a positive note in you, please reach out to Tom Borkowski, chair of the Board Development Committee, at
christinecenter@tds.net
. Thank you!
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We are eternally grateful for your donations!
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Or mail your gift to
The Christine Center W8303 Mann Road Willard, WI 54493
Thank you for your support!
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