Viridian Retreat – Wounded Healers

Post date: Nov 03, 2017 12:5:49 AM

A group of 12 gathered in the Viridian Centre at Nudgee to take time away from the

busyness of life to reflect on the ‘woundedness’ of their lives, our species and the all nurturing earth. Over two days (Oct 30 & 31) the group explored the wound of historical Jesus felt deeply by him in the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11) and our own wounds experienced though personal loss, tragedy and the suffering of others especially the asylum seeker, refugee, the excluded indigenous person and marginalised jobless young person a victim of our free market system of economics. The centre-piece was Grace the mauve rose given to those who donate organs to sustain the life of others. It is also given to those who receive these precious organs. They looked behind the text, within the text and in front of the text ensuring that there was a holistic perspective and a sense of interconnection and personal responsibility. Some are guilty but all are responsible. The personal pain was explored through walking the ‘Wound Mandala’ and attending to some of the tragedies of this time in history – the demise of the Barrier Reef, the destruction of our forests and the pain of those abused through the use of power and privilege. The second day was about allowing the pain but seeing the hope that arises when one depths the sources of this searing wound. Through the 1000 crane story of Sadako Sasaki of Japan who died at 12 years from cancer caused the Hiroshima atomic bomb retreatants come to a new sense of hope in the darkness of overwhelming hopelessness. They made a crane of hope for a special intention, which could have been a dying bird species or a dear friend. In the afternoon the group walked the Owen Brown garden which has been created within the local eucalyptus forest where there was a once a stand of guinea grass. The garden is a space between the natural wildness of the forest and the cultivated landscapes of the human. It is a place to pause and be attentive and still.

PH (02/11/2017)