Skip to main content

Pacem In Terris

Last week I went to Pacem in Terris. Such a cool experience. The cabins are outfitted perfectly for simple living that leaves you pining a little bit for modern conveniences but also supplies you with enough to feel like you can sustain yourself on very little. Which, in reality, you can.

I journaled extensively throughout my stay there.( July 9th in the afternoon through mid-morning on the 12th). It was muggy and buggy the entire stay save the first night, it cooled down quite a bit which was nice. By the third night it was so hot at night that I attempted to sleep out on the screen covered porch. That went OK until about 2 in the morning and then a thunderstorm raged through. That was great, I like the thunder and the lightning but there was no cooling effect from it unfortunately.

They supplied me with a straw hat on which to drape a full-body bug net. I tried to go outside without it. Nope. The rest of the time I wore it almost every time I ventured outside. I saw lots of wildlife and enjoyed the slow rhythm of a day with almost zero plans. I did workout in the afternoons and made time to eat with the other hermits in the evening. The staff people there were great. The other hermits were somewhat interesting and the food was incredibly welcome and delicious.

I read quite a bit and napped on occasion. The evenings were my absolute favorite. I would sit out in the screened room as the temperature dropped along with the sun. (except that last night). I would heat up water on the gas stove and make decaf coffee or tea and smoke my tobacco pipe. This would last from about 6:30 till 9:30. I brought my nexus 7 which could not connect to the internet or anything like that, but had a couple books downloaded on it so I could read at night with squinting by the candle (which I did do sometimes as well).

All in all, I would say that it hat it's intended effect. You start to notice the little things. You don't reach for the phone. The rustle of the trees or the songs of birds, the movement of the leave by little critter feet all make an impact on your senses and it's really good. I found myself moving through the cabin or the woods with a calmness and non-hurriedness. Nothing was frantic and there was no pressure felt to do this now or make that happen by the end of the day. I noticed myself being grateful for God for the things I could immediately see. Grateful for shade, for rain, for sunlight, for mornings, for evenings, for the taste of tea, how fire warms a drink and how a breeze brings refreshing.

I hope to go back again. Perhaps in the Fall when the bugs aren't awful and you can use a blanket when you sleep inside.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review - Blue Like Jazz

I liked the book for the most part. I sort of thought there'd be more speaking from a skeptic's point of view. But a critic of the Christian culture is an important endeavor as well. I thought there were a lot of different assumptions that were made concerning various points of view, and so there were some jumps that a reader such as myself had to make. Seeing as how the book was written in the early 2000's that does make sense. I like his bend toward social justice and he also seems well traveled into the realm of secular thinkers and communicators. It does us a disservice as communicators in this century to be in our faith bubble and think that that's how people should think. It was a little tough reading all his stuff about being single and wondering about marriage and girlfriends ugh.. I know it was his journey but I have a bias, I think, about guys that aren't married. I just think of them as kids. There's an emotional muscle that marriage works that ...

Hanging out with Rainn

Took Rainn over to the soccer fields and just hung out with him for a while. He needs one on one time more than I think he lets on. He sort of gets squished in the middle of everything so it's nice to just see him. He really loves soccer and he's getting really good. In the future I really want to carve out time for him. He's a pretty great guy.