The Beauty of Laity Lodge
There are few places on planet earth where I feel more at home than at the Laity Lodge.
I've been going to retreats out at the Lodge—which is blessedly in the middle of nowhere in the Hill Country of Texas—over twenty years now and I never tire of its beauty; as if, of course, true beauty could ever be tired of.
This past weekend I got to share the retreat with Lore Wilbert, the author of two marvelous books and with another on the way, where we explored how spiritual formation might take place through all five of our senses.
She took touch and sight, while I took sound and smell and then treated the sense of taste on Sunday morning in anticipation of the Eucharist bread that we would all share.
We got to hang out with Jon Guerra and Valerie, along with their wonderfully precocious daughter, Winslow. The Guerras led worship and performed a concert on Saturday. I've listened to their music on Spotify and I get to hear them regularly at our church, where they lead worship, but it was truly magic to hear them perform in person.
Jon also took one of the prayers that will show up in the book of prayers and paintings that Phaedra and I are publishing with InterVarsity Press, and he set it to a four-part harmony song. It was such a gift to me, and it sounded so very beautiful.
We hiked up to Circle Bluff.
We canoed down the Frio River.
We squealed and splashed in the Frio River.
We made art.
We took naps.
We made fires.
We read books.
We caught up with friends.
We drank coffee in the dark morning hours and watched the horizon lighten over the crest of the canyon.
We saw the frigging annular solar eclipse. Wow. What a spectacle. And what a fun thing to share with others at the base of the Threshold sculpture that Roger Feldman created for the Lodge. It was like witnessing the One Ring to Rule Them All in person.
We also buried a little hummingbird that had died near the art studios, God only knows how, and marked the grace with artfully made crosses.
I never take for granted the hospitality of the Lodge, from its director, Steven Purcell, to its support and kitchen and maintenance staff. It's incredibly generous and, in my case, it was desperately needed.
