by Kathy Moran.

Have you yearned to follow your heart to a place where you have always wanted to be; to linger there, savouring the sights and sounds, feeding your mind and spirit with wonderful wisdom and insights, while held in a warm, supportive group environment? I had this inestimable privilege recently when I attended a retreat at Campfire in the Heart in Alice Springs.

The days quickly fell into a rhythm. Morning prayer and meditation were followed by wonderful input from the presenter, and ‘alone time’ or, sometimes, walking meditation. After a shared lunch, we would return to silence to ‘sit with’ all that was arising within us. Prayer and meditation concluded the afternoons and each evening finished with dinner and ‘yarning’ around the campfire.

Grounded in the red earth in the early morning, we sometimes watched the sun rise spectacularly, unencumbered by the confines of a city. On another occasion, we visited Jessie, Emily and Simpsons Gaps and stood in awe on holy ground as we tried to experience something of dadirri, taught so eloquently by Miriam Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann.

One evening, we gathered with some in the Alice Springs community to consider a question put forward by the presider for that session. Here we witnessed a community grappling with many of the hopes, doubts, joys and sadness that we know in our own lives.

I will forever be grateful to our retreat presenter, Bernard McGrath OSB, our facilitator, Susan Sullivan, and her husband, Francis Sullivan. Collectively, you gave me such an experience to treasure.

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Kathy Moran attended the ‘Mind the Gaps’ retreat held at Campfire in the Heart in August 2024.