Saturday, April 12th a group of 10 Team Alumni, spanning the “generations” of Day Camp Teams, gathered on Google Meet for a three-hour Mini Retreat, admirably led by Eli Bjedov-Stanković.
Eli is a visual artist who chooses to embrace the Retreat theme- “What is Holy?” in creative as well, as in spiritual, daily practice.
Eli created a special website, just for the Retreat, with a number of interesting resources from reading materials to colouring pages.
Here is a prayer and a bit of context, which Eli shared with us prior to the Retreat
O Lord, how numerous are your works,
wisely you have accomplished them all;
your creatures cover the earth,
how manifold are your marvels, O God!
You send out your breath, they are made,
you renew the face of the earth.
For ever the glory of the Lord!
Let our Master be glad in his works!
All life long, for the Lord I will sing,
while I live, I will praise my God;
may the Lord take pleasure in my words,
since all my joy is in God.
from Psalm 104
“One of the most tragic consequences of our contemporary societies and economic systems is that art, imagination, writing, dance, music, craft, singing (even prayer) have all been re-construed as skills, rather than activities that are inherently human. And perhaps not just human! We see across the natural world, communication and ornamentation and mourning rituals and mating art. Perhaps, this dance with Creation itself is how we can come closer to understanding what is holy about our everyday world and, consequentially, us.
This retreat is centred around this BIG question and anchored in the process of creating!
But this retreat is also not just for “artists.” I hope you will come to understand our role as co-creators with God in everything we do. We drew before we had art markets and we sang before we composed symphonies. Through songs, videos, reflection, personal time, and conversation, we will explore how art and craft – professional and casual – can help us access a prayerful life.
We are often pressured to monetize our hobbies and market our art. As an artist, this pressure is ever-present; however, it’s all around us. So what happens when we, instead of buying more supplies or taking more lessons, we stop and ask: what is holy about what we are doing? After all, not everyone is called to be an artist but everyone is called to create!”
And here are some examples of Eli’s oeuvre, which centre around the art of papermaking.
Participants were also invited to share any of their own work, made during the 2 Creative Spaces that were part of the schedule. Here are 2 lovely pieces written by Ruth.
Creative Space 1:
What prayer feels like to me?
I hold up my knitting, which I have spent a ridiculous amount of time on and was quite proud of, until I saw the holes I didn’t see happening. I dropped some stitches. I wasn’t paying attention, it was all my fault for sure. Now I can’t unsee the holes. “Lord,” I say, how could I have let this happen? I was trying so hard, but I see how I got it wrong! Can I still make this right?” ‘No, my Child, you can’t, but I can. I have been waiting for you to come to me about this.’
Creative Space 2:
Notice all that has been created.
I look out the window and see two or three birds have come to settle on our dormant crabapple tree. They are flitting and fluttering around, full of the joys of spring. On the ground, the matted vegetation of dormant plants clings to the brown grass. I know that, under some of those rain-soaked leaves, or maybe under last Fall’s drier maple leaves that I deliberately did not pick up, lie butterfly cocoons and other signs of life. If only I can leave them a bit longer, maybe in a month they’ll surprise me and flutter into sight in a surprising show of colour.
I have some leaf debris in my own life, places I wish looked tidier or more presentable. I am now very hopeful the Master Gardener is using this space and I will be able to shine the image of God within me, given that I was made with the same creative force as leaf petals. I hope I can feel the creative butterflies flow out of me and that they will delight both others and our Creator.
And a few of the messages sent in at the end of the afternoon:-
“thank you for encouraging me to attend. It was good for my soul. I was thankful to hear Eli and to reflect on her own experiences! It was life-giving and perfect as we begin Holy Week! Blessings to you!”
“Wow! Well done, Eli. This is absolutely beautiful and true. Imago Dei. Because we were created in His image, we are creators by design.”
Throughout the afternoon we also paused from listening to the reflections and watching 2 extraordinary, documentary videos (Fiona Rew time tag-0.03, and Bruce Naigles/ time tag 13.26) to share in singing Taizé songs of worship, beautifully recorded, just for the Retreat, by alumnus, Miriam.
I will end off here by including one of these lovely recordings.