This is a guest post from Ronna Detrick, one of my fabulous co-creators and collaborators on the upcoming Women on the Threshold program. Ronna lives in the Pacific Northwest, so it was an absolute delight to get to meet her in person before I left for Vienna. I knew as we shared dreams together that afternoon, that partnering would be necessary soon, to see what the Spirit might give birth too when we brought our gifts together. So I was thrilled when she responded with an enthusiastic yes to my invitation to join me in this special offering.
Here is Ronna sharing about the power of stories for her:
There is a thin, red thread that binds me to the stories or women in mysterious and powerful ways. It tugs, pulls, and weaves its way through my own life’s stories, reminding me that I am never alone.
Not content to just know this thread is there, I tie one end around my waste and follow its path – navigating narratives in search of understanding; in search of hope. This journey has led me into stormy seas, across torrid deserts, and over/through countless thresholds. It has revealed my insecurities and my inherent capacity to endure; my fears and my faith. And it has shown me the way home – to myself, to the breathtaking strength of women, to God.
This thin, red thread of connected stories does not disappoint, endlessly guides, and never lets me go.
The stories are told in infinite ways: through fairytales, myths, archetypes, metaphor, everyday life. But one “genre” captures me in ways I can neither resist nor escape: the stories of women in Scripture.
They have been tangled in centuries of theology, patriarchy, and history. They have been misinterpreted, misunderstood, and even maligned if not just forgotten or silenced. And still, they speak; still, their thread spins; still, they inspire.
The thin, red thread that winds its way through these stories is the one that sews my heart back together and reconnects me to God.
It is these women and their stories that have enabled, strengthened, and inspired me to stand on the edge of yet one more threshold (whether chosen or not), take another step, and sometimes even leap. Women like Eve, like Hagar, like the woman at the well, like me, like you – bound tightly together by a thin, red thread that flows through our veins; that carries us, comforts us, and calls us to God; that reminds us we are never alone.
—Ronna Detrick (Don't miss her video posted last Monday on thresholds)
Women on the Threshold will offer a multitude of ancient stories of women who have traveled this path before, including women from scripture and the mystics, as well as others.
If this sounds too delicious to miss, you are right. Please join us here. You have the option of the email content and a private forum for online conversation with all the women gathered for this event. AND you can also opt to choose small group spiritual direction via phone to support you in this process (and/or individual direction with any of our facilitators if you prefer).
Do you have questions about whether this program is right for you? Email me!
If you are drawn to exploring the monk and artist's path this fall, Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist will also be offered again in its 12-week online format. Always a transformative journey as well. . .