Daily Nourishment for July 19, 2024: Sitting Together with Guidance from Words by Tania Runyan about Her Glen Workshop Experiences
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 60 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 15 minutes
“Instead of trying so hard to replicate Christ as you love your neighbor, look for Christ in your neighbor, seeing his face in the faces you meet.” - Malcolm Guite
Pause.
Take six deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale. Then read “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” by Dylan Thomas inlcuded in this short essay by Tania Runyan.
Prompt.
Read the excerpts from a short essay by Tania Runyan in Image journal below:
I’m an introvert who loves to talk, an often confusing combination that can leave me drained in spite of myself, or perplex my friends when I suddenly slink off after an hour of raucous guffawing.
But I just spent a week in Santa Fe at the Glen Workshop, a gathering of writers, artists, and musicians who meet at St. John’s College every summer to hone their craft, eat and worship together, and listen to some of the world’s most inspiring creative people share their work. And it was there that I experienced several moments of healing and energizing silence.”
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“I spent my evenings transfixed by the hymns we sang, the poetry our chaplain read, and the oil that anointed my forehead.
But there were also the sacred quietudes:
Sitting for hours with my friends Kristin and Sara, speaking only with our clacking laptop keys. Their very presences, the four steady eyes gliding to me with silent humor or compassion when I needed it, gave me the courage to write through difficult childhood memories.
Sitting on a brick ledge with a crying person I barely knew, huddled together in literally unspeakable sadness. We looked down at our sandaled toes as lizards scurried behind us, not sure where to find our survival but knowing we eventually would.”
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“On the last night of the Glen, chaplain Malcolm Guite said something simple yet profound: instead of trying so hard to replicate Christ as you love your neighbor, look for Christ in your neighbor, seeing his face in the faces you meet.
It’s not an easy job, transposing the face of a thirty-something, longhaired Israeli dude on the face of every man, woman, and child I encounter. Of course it’s impossible to ever imagine the exact physical representation of Christ, at least in this world. There has to be another way of doing it, a seeing that goes beyond the eyes.
During one night at the Glen, an attendee asked poet Li-Young Lee how he differentiates among the longing, the waiting, and the resting. After several minutes of letting those words roll around his mind and tongue, Lee said, ‘maybe the resting is in the longing.’
Practice.
Set a timer for 10 minutes and journal or take notes in response to the words above and/or the questions below:
How do you try to see the goodness of Christ (or any type of goodness in others), even people with whom you disagree or aren’t particularly fond of?
Where do you sense energy right now, today, in the poem “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”?
How have you experienced healing while present with other people recently?
How does engaging with art help you see beyond the eyes?
How can you experience rest while longing for more? What could that look like? What can you try?
Want More?
If you have an upcoming flight, say to Seattle, try Tania Runyan’s Guide to Quick and Dirty in-Flight Villanelles which can be found here.
Read the full essay Sitting Together: A Week at the Glen Workshop by Tania Runyan here.
I don’t know if Tania will be at this year’s Glen Workshop. I hope so!
During the month of July, Spiritual Direction for Writers® Daily Nourishment will feature Glen Workshop facilitators and other Glen-ish people, places, and things. Enjoy!
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Upcoming Workshops & Gatherings
—The July Co-Writing Schedule is live.
—July 21-27: Charlotte Donlon will provide a few spiritual direction offerings at the Glen Workshop in Seattle
—July 27: Online Revision Stations Designed by Lauren F. Winner
—Save the Date: Spiritual Direction for Writers® + Enneagram for Creativity Gathering will take place on Saturday, September 28th. Recordings will be available if you can’t join us live. Speakers will be announced soon!
Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.
*Please help us protect our intellectual property, our creative process, and the integrity of our work. Spiritual Direction for Writers® Daily Nourishment is covered under the Spiritual Direction for Writers® trademark. You are welcome to share this link with others, but any other use (written or spoken) is prohibited without written permission from Charlotte Donlon.