Listening to Your Life

Just one week ago former volunteers from Tucson, AZ to San Francisco, CA to Dublin, CA joined together at Mercy Center, a Sisters of Mercy convent and retreat center located in lovely Burlingame, California. Fifteen former volunteers, including the leadership team of five local young adults, as well as Volunteers Exploring Vocation staff Jim Ellison and Martha Wright, came together for the 2012 “Volunteers Exploring Vocation” West Coast Retreat. The retreatants in attendance were alumnae/i of Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps NW, Jesuit Volunteer Corps International, Presbyterian Young Adult Volunteers, Lutheran Volunteer Corps, Episcopal Service Corps, Mission Year and AmeriCorps.

The retreat theme, “Listening to Your Life,” was geared toward the volunteer retreatant population at hand, with most of the retreatants experiencing some type of a significant transition in life and/or upcoming decision to be made. In this regard, the retreat was a prime space for both structured and unstructured activities and sessions at hand, cultivating a safe space in which to delve into various personal and professional discernments and transitions. This theme has been the topic of focus for a number of ministry-rooted books, such as Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer and Listening to Your Life by Frederick Buechner, and proved to be a prime theme for retreatants to unpack over the weekend.

The retreat schedule included sessions, small and large group conversations, a keynote speaker from the University of San Francisco, guided centering meditations, and more, all centered on the theme of “listening to your life.” The sessions available were each focused on one sub-topic—matters of money, relationships/partnership, artistic creativity, and clearness groups/committees. Retreatants were given the option to choose one of two topics offered during two different time periods. The small size of the entire group provided for small session groups, creating a climate more conducive to going in-depth.

Retreatants connected on various levels, with main takeaways and closing thoughts rooted in the topics of community, faith, food, academia, and public health. Time and time again, current and former volunteer VEV retreats prove to be a healthy space to rest, (re)connect, discuss, and (re)discern. Retreatants came away from this retreat grateful for a space of connection and were certainly also able to “strengthen Christian ministry in the world by strengthening the quality of its leadership.”