Friends,
For years I have dreamed of taking a group of folks on a series of four retreats—one for each season—to a place called Mission San Antonio de Padua. The mission itself dates back to 1771, and was founded by Junípero Serra in the Mountains between the Salinas Valley and Big Sur on the land of the Xolon Salinan people.
I wanted to do a retreat at Mission San Antonio both because I find it to be a profoundly sacred place, with an intoxicating mixture of Old Spain and the American West…
Roman Catholicism and traces of the Salinan people’s Kuksu spirituality, which predates the Mission’s founding.
I wanted to do a four-season series of retreats because I believe different seasons call us to practice different kinds of emotional, spiritual, and practical work, illustrated here by four different hats that you might see on one of our retreats during different seasons.
I was overwhelmed by the success of the Summer retreat (at which I wore the Milan straw fedora on the left). It was impeccably organized by an amazing committee, the food was wonderful, and the Mission itself put on an amazing show. Here are some photos:
The mission itself is surrounded by the Santa Lucia mountains, which are home to the highest peaks along California’s coast.
And the mission greets the visitor with a reminder that it is time to slow down—spiritually and in terms of automotive velocity.
The Mission is blessed with plenty of places to pray…
…in the cloisters…
…out in the cottonwoods…
…and oaks.
It is a place that beckons…
And provides a window into the Spirit.
And it will be different in the Fall when I hope you will join us.
To see more photos, visit: https://photos.google.com/u/1/share/AF1QipMnIMLT5Ae1DUerBDUksa0X5XA60NUdGNm_u7yVEovT9IGroJ7etGDmxoftOpPKIw?key=Z1FHekE4c2w4NlF3VUVkeTZPT0FHdHdHalctLTFB
To watch a video introducing the retreats, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-d9qJwQlVo
God’s Peace,
Ben