10/13/2008
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Staff photo by Thomas Michael Corcoranfrom the Kennebec Journal
BRACING FOR CUTS
Bull killed in Chelsea field; night hunting suspected
HALLOWELL Shea takes on role as interim manager
Vigil set for crash victim
WEST GARDINER CHARITY IN A SHOE BOX
Hartland man dies battling fire; 'no replacing him'
Brewers to make decision on Rogers
WINTER PRACTICES UNDER WAY
All of today's:
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from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
Officials to brainstorm on energy
License probe leads to indictment
Fireman collapses at fire, dies later
Waterville, Winslow back school plan revision
SKOWHEGAN Pit stop reopens in spot next door
ADOPTION LAW TO TAKE EFFECT
Brewers must make decision on Rogers
Switching gears for new season
All of today's:
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from the Morning Sentinel
"Not everybody is going to find their way through the sacraments of any church," said Susan MacKenzie, who directs programming at the Living Water Spiritual Center, in Winslow.
"Some people go on the trails and find God in their own ways," she said. "Some people get that through a drumming circle."
Still others participate in small-group studies, weekend retreats or what the World Religious Travel Association calls the $18 billion pilgrimage industry, as travelers visit holy lands worldwide to drink from the source waters of their faiths.
In central Maine, spiritual sojourners can follow their pursuits on both sides of the Sebasticook River -- at an exhibit of medieval religious art at Colby College in Waterville (see related story) and through a burgeoning, ecumenical program of spiritual retreats, lectures and guided walks that help visitors of any faith turn inward.
"The search inevitably turns inward," said Living Water's MacKenzie. "It happens at different ages to different people."
In Winslow, a long driveway separates the closely spaced homes of Halifax Street, and leads to the relative tranquility of Living Water Spiritual Center.
There, religious leaders and others enjoy peace and tranquility in the center's labyrinth, a screened porch facing the morning sunrise, and a chapel and four trails that lead down to the Sebasticook. The Center offers retreats, meetings and special events, plus 29 bedrooms, suites and meals, the latter prepared on the premises.
Living Water, built in the mid-1960s by the Sisters of St. Joseph, is not just for the clergy.
"People ask me if this is a Catholic place," said Sister Claudette Darisse, the center's director. "I say, 'Very much so, with a small 'c.' Catholic is universal.'"
The center was built in the mid-1960s as a Novitiate by the Sisters of St. Joseph's. As the numbers of women becoming Nuns dwindled, the Sisters of St. Joseph's turned it into a center for abused women, and then a day-care center.
In the 1990s, the Sisters transformed the facility into a spiritual center for retreats, naming it "St. Joseph's Christian Life Center."
In 1998, in an attempt to appeal to people of all faiths, and to recognize its position near the Sebasticook River, the Sisters renamed it "Living Water."
'You feel the peace'
Darisse, who took her position at the center just this summer, appreciates why people fill the center every weekend for retreats, for special programs and symposiums, or just to reconnect.
"It really is a sacred place," she said. "You feel the peace. That's the ambiance we hope to promote."
People seeking their spiritual side might do so at such a center. Or, they might read one of the many new spiritual magazines available at newsstands.
MacKenzie, a Methodist, said that when material times get tough, people often turn to the spiritual. People today are living an "overscripted" life, she said. People work harder, but many seem less happy, she said.
"All of this speaks to this rise you see on the magazine stands," MacKenzie said. "You have to look beyond yourself when you don't find happiness in the material. I think it's the search for meaning.
Rev. Sharon Stover, an ordained Metropolitan Community Churches minister, is one of Living Water's listed retreat program leaders. Stover, who lives in Fairfield, said she sees more examples of interest in spirituality these days. She defined spirituality as "a connection with something greater than ourselves, which most people call God."
Stover made a connection between that increased connection and difficult material times.
"When bad things happen, people want things more," said Stover, who works with the addictions ministry team at Hammond Street Congregational Church in Bangor. "I need to know that there is something bigger than me, that solving the world's problems is not up to me."
Stover's church focuses on social justice, and provides outreach to the gay and lesbian community. She is seeking dual standing as a minister with the United Church of Christ.
'There's a hunger out there'
At Living Water, Stover will address a retreat intended to help those who have been affected by others' drug addiction and alcohol abuse. The retreat, entitled "Facing the Storm," is scheduled for Jan. 23-25.
"It would be an ideal retreat if your spouse or your child were an alcoholic," she said.
Rev. Levering Sherman, an Episcopal priest who makes occasional presentations at the center, said he hears faith and morals mentioned more these days in community-service groups, and among young people.
Ten years ago, Rev. Sherman said, he couldn't talk for long with a 16-year-old about God. It's a different situation today. "They are looking for something," Sherman said. "There's a certain inquisitiveness and a hunger out there."
Sherman said that Living Water is his favorite place for a retreat, or to do a presentation.
"It's a wonderful spot in the way they've integrated the natural surroundings," he said. "It's a very relaxed environment. It has a great feel."
'The hurly-burly of life'
Raymond Krinsky, Rabbi emeritus at Beth Israel Synagogue in Waterville, has visited Living Water for meetings with other members of the clergy.
"I think they're doing a job for people who are seeking the peace that doesn't come from the hurly-burly of life," he said.
He said people often seek religious or other counseling when they can't work out the material end of their personal lives.
"You read about it all the time, that people are concerned how to conduct their lives," he said.
But he's unconvinced that a greater interest in all things spiritual has made people treat each other better.
"When I think of spirituality," he said, "I think of how people behave toward each other. In words, I see it, but not entirely in deeds."
Larry Grard -- 861-9239
lgrard@centralmaine.com
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