Wow – that one word pretty much sums up our retreat in Cologne less than two weeks ago – I hope many of you, like me, are still riding on that wave of movement from Angst to Agency that the Rev. Diane Rollert so skillfully helped us navigate. And I hope those of you who couldn’t make it will come share hugs with us in Saarbrücken (April 17–19, 2026). The Rev. Joanna Crawford promises to be another inspirational minister that weekend, and the retreat theme is “Captain of My Soul: Orienteering a Faithful Life”.
Registration is open now until Oct. 15th, so don’t delay.
Although having online options has been great for EUU, those of us who were able to get to this retreat were reminded that there’s nothing quite like meeting in person: the shared meals, the hugs, the informal conversations in between planned activities, and even getting out to see a bit of that beautiful city – the hostel is very near the Rhein River, and that was a popular place for people to catch a bit of sunshine and fresh air throughout the weekend.
Hope is what many of us took away from the retreat. During the Sunday worship service, Rev. Diane gave us each a smooth rock and had us write one word that summed up what we were taking home. Then we passed the rocks around our circle of 75 chairs, reading everyone’s rock until our own came back to us. Deeply touching, this moment was a lovely way to wrap up our experience. And many of those 75 rocks simply read, “Hope”.
My title this month comes from a famous poem by the U.S. poet, Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). It’s short and sweet, so here it is:
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Hope – it comes to each of us like a little bird, offering balm for our often-weary hearts, minds, and spirits. I think of Dickinson’s poem when I happen to catch a bird enjoying the seed I put out in the bird feeder on my balcony – they are quite elusive, but I know they’re eating the seed because it keeps vanishing from the feeder. Then, like hope, I fill it up again as often as needed.
Our hopes for the world, as well as our hopes for future retreats, shine brightly for me as I write this. After having great fun working with the Cologne 2025 retreat committee, some of us have been inspired to get EUU back on track with retreats in the pipeline through 2027 – two a year.
The hostels are booked, and the speakers have been found for two retreats in 2026 and two in 2027 – we are hoping having these cornerstones in place will encourage others to get involved in planning these retreats – we need and welcome your help, whether you are new to planning a retreat or an old hand. This is a leap of faith that we hope you will make with us.
Because as EUU member the Rev. Claire MacDonald (UK, At Large) said about the Cologne retreat this year, “blessings on the next one, and the next, and the next – we need them.”
In service and community,
Bonnie