Thursday, November 10, 2011

Laity Lodge-Kindred Spirits




This is the third post of a four part series on my experience at the writer's retreat at Laity Lodge. Click on these links to read the other posts:


Part 1
Part 2
Part 4




In The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis writes about deep friendships that are between kindred spirits. These are people who have more in common than merely convenience or living in close proximity to one another. These are people who see and care about the same truths. At the Laity Lodge Writer's Retreat, the rooms were full of kindred spirits. These were people who are writers, with a deep belief in their God. Many are book authors. Most are bloggers, and some attended in anticipation of beginning to write.




I walked up to a group of writers at the meet-and-greet when immediately I heard a lady say, “Oh, you’re the one who won the contest!” She had read my nametag. I sheepishly smiled as some of the others turned to stare. I was meeting all of them for the first time. Many of them already knew one another. They had met at the retreat last year. Many others had been corresponding on the internet and knew each other but were meeting in person for the first time.




I went to get refreshments and people were introducing themselves. Arriving with my own preconceived notions about  people from seeing their pictures on The High Calling website, meeting them in person was quite a surprise. I expected L.L. Barkat to be ten feet tall. She is an accomplished writer, teacher, editor, publisher, wife and mother. So, when a very petite feminine lady walked up to me and introduced herself, I politely said hello. Then, my brain processed who she said that she was and I couldn’t speak for shock. She was ten feet tall in accomplishments and character only.




We had dinner in a dining room with long wooden tables, more like the kind that you would have in a family dining room rather than at a retreat center. I was amazed that the conversation never seemed to wane. There was none of the nervous first conversations that are usually encountered at retreats among people who were meeting for the first time. Not even among the newbies like me. I guess that is because most everyone there was a writer and we writers love to express. Express we did, all weekend.



When we weren't expressing, we were chillaxing; or clowning; or meditating. 



Some were autographing books.



We came in all ages, shapes and sizes to meet one another, learn a little about our craft, and fellowship. We, the kindred spirits, so thankful to be with each other, drinking in the beauty of understanding, left with the gift of richer, deeper kinships and wonderful memories for a lifetime.



Amen.
To read the next article in this series about Laity Lodge, go here.


Joining with Laura Boggess at The Wellspring and L.L. Barkat at Seedlings in Stone.



















On In Around button copyright 2011 by Kathy Robbins

14 comments:

  1. A beautiful write depicting beautiful people and place! Thank you for the great photos! Made me feel like a kid at camp... even though I had to pay my own way... dang it. =)

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  2. Sigh. Just when I think I've gotten over missing this place. I've been thinking about this past year, all that happened during the past twelve months. The time spent in this place with these folks is some of the best time from the past year. I am so glad you won Kathy, truly. Thanks for posting this. You really got some great shots--different from many of the others I've seen.

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  3. Ha! You cracked me up saying that both here and at our final worship service--about paying your own way! LOL!
    Blessings,
    Kathy

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  4. Thank you Nancy. So many photogenic people in a beautiful setting. The photos were simple. This was one of my best times of the year as well.
    Blessings,
    Kathy

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  5. Thanks Lyla. No other description fits, does it? Thanks for stopping by.

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  6. Hi, Kathy. Visiting here for what I think is the first time. (Coming via The Wellspring.) It looks like you had a blessed time, and I, too, am so happy you won and had the opportunity to meet, in person, some bloggers I really enjoy and respect. May God bless you as you continue to write in this space and elsewhere!

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  7. Thank you for stopping by. We had a great time. I hope that we will get a chance to meet next year. I
    Blessings,
    Kathy

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  8. Hi Kathy,

    Visiting from Laura's blog...Congrats on winning a trip to the retreat. It sounds like each of you had a wonderful time...love that term "chillaxing"...I might have to use it one of these days, but I would give you credit for coming up with the word.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  9. Thank you for stopping by. I would love to accept the credit for the term "chillaxing", but I got it from my 15 year old son.:) He constantly tells me to "chillax".

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  10. *sigh*

    Can we go back? What a beautiful time it was. So glad to have met you there, Kathy. Can't wait to see you next time! And, yes, what C.S. Lewis said. We are all kindred.

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  11. Great to have met you too, Laura. The place without the people wouldn't have been the same!
    Blessings,
    Kathy

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  12. I love the pix!!! Everyone looks like they have known each other for ever. What a beautiful time and a beautiful place.

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  13. Thank you. I think everyone had known one another forever, in a sense.

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