Retreat. Revive. Reconnect. Re……

EUU President Karen Kyker

Retreat. Revive. Reconnect. Religion. Remember. Rejoice! Regret. Relieve. Relive. Respond. Retire. Rewire. Respire. Rebegin. Revisit. Review. Relight. Regroup. Repeat. Relief. Restart. Return. …Prague. Europe. Earth. Here. Now. …Reflect. Renew. Retreat.

We are one week away from the opening of our Spring 2022 EUU Retreat – and I look forward to seeing you ‘there’! You’ll be there? I hope so! No problem if you haven’t yet signed up… registration remains open, and you can do it right now. Why not? The reg. fee is right (you decide what’s right, and surplus goes to Ukraine relief organizations), the travel is light (walk on over), the friendships and possibilities are rich, and it is time to regroup and re-link ourselves to one another, to ‘come home to each other’ for a restful spell.

I’m very much looking forward to a Saturday walk in the park with our friend the Rev. Lara Cowtan (come along with us!). She has planned an inspirational theme talk, “Back to a Garden I’ve Called Eden” on Saturday the 9th of April, and I know she will be delighted to find all of us showing up with walking shoes on. Please join us!

And what a sweet moment it will be (I can feel it!), when I’ll roll into the retreat center as it grows dark on Friday evening, tired after a wearying week of toil and sometimes turmoil, to find hush, and anticipation, all of us ready to be present with and for each other, ready to hear about the milestones and the mundane, sharing our lives through our ritual of Candles of Joys and Concerns. I look forward to seeing you there in the flickering of the candlelight.

Have you ever listed the pros and cons of online retreats vs in-person? Makes sense – trying to make the best of trying circumstances. But though I can still come up with a convincing list of the benefits of doing a retreat online, the desire for ‘real’! is so strong it is tempting to throw up my hands at the idea of another weekend online (Oi!).

Here – if we view our EUU connections through the lens of a solid friendship – where inconvenience & imperfection does not prevent us from spending time together, where we are richer, and we feel moments of solid joy – well, even if I can’t really give you a hug, hear the real complexity of the music mixed with fifty voices talking and singing, or buy you a drink ‘at the real bar’… I’ll be there this time, too! …and I hope you will be, too!

Join me, join us, join UUs of Europe and new wanderers, worshipers, seekers of meaning… for a couple of hours or a whole weekend; for Sunday worship, a traditional flower communion, workshops on both Saturday and Sunday, a schedule created to try to keep plenty of free space for ‘real’ walks and movement around the online bits, the return of the ‘Wonder Room’ Lounge and Lobby, and reconnection with friendly faces, new and old. Join us… we’ll be looking for you 🙂

In Fellowship and with great anticipation,
Karen Kyker
President@europeanuu.org