Photos by Tim Fiocchi
“I have had a dream of attending this retreat again ever since the first one in 1986 — a long time ago. Last September at the end of the Ministers’ Retreat in this very room, I expressed this dream verbally. Much of my experience as the dream began to manifest is beautifully expressed in Psalm 121: ‘I will lift mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord who made heaven and earth.’ And so my gratitude and thanks go first to Spirit and then to the Traveler for doing it all and allowing me to participate. It has been the most magnificent year of loving and learning how joyful and easy and full of grace it is to have Spirit and the Traveler as partners in manifesting a dream.” – Carrie Judith Jacoby
A sixteen year dream was realized when twenty-eight of the Traveler’s Initiates came together on Labor Day Weekend (Aug. 30 – Sept.1, 2002) to participate in the newly revised pilot for the Initiates’ Retreat To the Kingdom of God. The retreat was held in the spacious, elegantly appointed common room (library) of the College of Preachers located on the grounds of the magnificent and awe-inspiring National Cathedral in Washington D.C.
The College of Preachers was where we lived, ate, and slept. Most of us opted for private rooms. Some of the rooms are tucked away in unexpected and hidden places. There are wonderful nooks and crannies with comfortable chairs, small courtyard gardens, a private chapel complete with organ, and many other features that make this a very special setting for a retreat.
The theme of the retreat is: “If you would learn the secret of Soul Transcendence look only for the good, for the Divine in people and things and all the rest leave to God,” a quote by MSIA’s founder, John-Roger.
Most people probably know the story of “The Little Red Hen” who kept saying, “I will,” to the various tasks that came her way in creating a loaf of bread. Creating this retreat involved a number of people who stepped forward as Spirit moved them and each one lovingly said, “I will.”
Carol Jones at PTS said, “I will support this retreat.”
Carrie Judith Jacoby said, “I will do whatever it takes to make this retreat available.”
Team Captain, Carrie Judith Jacoby, with a great deal of loving assistance from Carol Jones at PTS, steadfastly held the vision (seeded), worked on the script (seeded a lot), prayed that J-R and John would approve the script and approve Angel as facilitator (seeded again), pleaded with Phil Danza and Kerry Wire at NOW Productions to work their magic and produce the excerpt, meditation, and music CDs that are an integral part of this retreat (seeded big time for this) and finally managed to get all the materials assembled a week before the retreat in order to do several practice runs with the sound team (more seeding) . (Paul Kaye aka Lord Tithington should be very happy with this testament to “Seeding Works”)
Angel Gibson said, “I will facilitate this retreat,” which she did with ease and grace.
Jan Rovecamp, Judy Podlesney, and Elissa Emerson said, “We will be the Logistics Team.”
Jan said, “I will seed many times. I will be the contact person for the College of Preachers. I will handle promotions, pre-registration, and create flyers and posters. And, after much thought, she lovingly said, “I will plan the meals and do the cooking. I will do it 100%.” (but she went many extra miles and it was more like 200%). Chip Conley said, “I will help Jan.”
And together they produced five healthy delicious meals and three snacks for 29 people in a very small kitchen in a house located across the road from the main dining area. As you can see they really got into the spirit of the occasion by donning chefs hats and aprons.
Meals were held in the refectory with its monastic austerity softened by a magnificent stained glass window.
Elissa said, “I will support Carrie Judith as she revises the retreat material. I will handle registration, products, and assist as needed in the room.”
Judy said (with great courage), “I will do sound.” Deborah Walton said, “I will assist Judy with sound.” Together they went for Excellence but actually achieved Perfection. Judy is especially grateful to Kerry Wire and the Now Productions team for so lovingly preparing the CDs and tapes for her “Maiden Voyage” in doing Sound.
J-R and John said, “We will support and bless this retreat.” (Note: John Morton created the original retreat held Thanksgiving Weekend 1986 from which much of the material for this revised version was excerpted.)
And all present said, “We will participate”.
Initiates in MSIA have a very special relationship with the Mystical Traveler. In this retreat, you, as an initiate, can learn more about this relationship, including the Traveler’s commitment to you and your responsibilities as an initiate. You’ll also explore the many aspects of being an initiate and the qualities of the levels of initiation.
This is a 2
