A camelia bloom on the dining room table in the Lodge.
 

Holy Day greetings
from Cedar Cross

As we near the season of Christmas, we are grateful for the opportunity to provide a place that is conducive for people from various faith traditions to rest, to reflect, and, we hope, to be renewed in their respective journeys. We are also grateful for the people who support this mission, including those who come on retreat, those who make financial gifts, those who volunteer their time, and those who hold Cedar Cross in the light. Our hope is that this season of recognizing afresh that God is with us is meaningful for you all.

A Day Apart returns in January

Cedar Cross is hosting A Day Apart after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The first re-gathering will be Monday, Jan. 23, from 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. 

We’ll begin with a brief time of worship, followed by the introduction of quotes from a writer. Then folks have silence until we regather just before lunch for a time to share about their respective experiences, if so led. After lunch, we’ll introduce more quotes before a time of silence. At 2:30, we’ll re-gather to share experiences and close with Communion. 

During the silence, participants are welcome to do as they are led. Some folks find a quiet place — either inside or outside — to reflect on one of the quotes or something else. Some walk the trails, or the labyrinth, or the meditation trail called the Way of Jesus. 

The suggested donation is $20. Please bring a bagged lunch. Drinks will be provided. 

To register, please contact the coordinator, Jimmy Allen, at cedarcrossregistrar@gmail.com. Participation is limited to 16 people.

We are planning to host A Day Apart on the fourth Monday of each month. 

Guests welcome for monthly Community Day

You’re invited to join with the Mission Group of Cedar Cross to help nurture the land and facilities as well as grow in our faith and relationships. Our next gathering for Community Day will be Monday-Tuesday, Jan. 23-24. The expectation is that we’ll gather on the fourth Monday-Tuesday of each month. 

Community Day begins with a meal on Monday at 5 p.m. This is followed by a time of spiritual formation/community building and then night prayers. 

The next day, we begin with breakfast, followed by morning prayers and then tasks that have been identified. We typically have various projects and want participants to serve in a way that is life-giving for them. We conclude at 3 p.m. 

We don’t ask for a donation to participate. We do, though, seek volunteers to provide or help provide one of the three meals. 

For more information, please contact the coordinator, Jimmy Allen, at cedarcrossregistrar@gmail.com.  
 

Retreatant releases book
Larry C. Williams, a regular retreatant at Cedar Cross, has compiled and edited a book of meditations from the writings of Samuel H. Miller. Part of the birthing of this book took place at Cedar Cross. 

Samuel Miller was a minister of the Old Cambridge Baptist Church for 25 years before becoming the dean of Harvard Divinity School. He served as dean until his death in 1968. Larry writes: “Sam Miller was not a saint in the usual sense. … He knew the right names for things and people involved in the monstrous evils of depression and war, as well as ordinary indignities of daily existence. He often spoke of his own ’embarrassments’ before the Lord, and in his prayers assumed that others shared this experience, which made some nice people quite uncomfortable!”

Larry lives in Louisburg with his wife, Zelma. Before compiling and editing this book, he served two congregations in North Carolina as pastor, directed The Pastor as Spiritual Guide program, and served as the campus minister at Meredith College in Raleigh.

Here is an excerpt, selected by Larry, of some of Samuel Miller’s writing: 
 

The growth of the soul depends on letting your soul speak for itself. Some souls hold conversation with God in music, and some in the sowing of seed, and others in the smell of sawed wood, and still others in the affectionate understanding of their friends. All souls are not alike. Utter your own prayer, in the language of your own joy. Repent of your own sin and let your lament be your own sorrow and not another’s. When you worship, thank God for whatever has given you joy, though it be so slight that no other soul would think it worthy of mention. Let your own insights sing their praise of creation, and your own handiwork adore the Invisible Creator. Quit dressing your soul in somebody else’s piety. Your soul is not a pauper. Let it live its own life. Truth is just as necessary for the life of the soul as faith and humility, and truth is not merely the final and authoritative statement of the universe’s wide design or life’s deepest meaning — no, truth is the soul being itself.

If then you have begun to build, remember that beginning is not enough. Take upon yourself the disciplines of growth: live freely and in faith; keep your eyes alert and your soul humble that you may not miss the visit of the eternal in your neighborhood of circumstance and experience. Most of all, untie your soul, give it room to breathe, let it play, do not be ashamed of it. It is the child of the eternal and destined for greater things than you dream.

Local art

The full-size bed in the Sunrise Suite of the Lodge now has a hand-made quilt that is a gift from Donna Pernell. This is one of the several quilts Donna has made for Cedar Cross. Above the headboard is a piece of art made by the late Margaret Hilpert. 

CPA, cleaners sought for Cedar Cross

We are looking for you — the community of people who know and love Cedar Cross — to help us in a couple areas.

One, we are looking for a certified public accountant to guide us in making decisions about the financial strength of the retreat center. If you know someone to recommend to us, please let the coordinator, Jimmy Allen, know at cedarcrossregistrar.com. 

Two, we are looking for help in cleaning the facilities after each person’s retreat. This is a paid position with a somewhat flexible schedule. If you are local and know someone, please contact the coordinator.

Thank you for being part of the Cedar Cross community.

A view from the trail

(We are reprinting the letter we sent in November in case anyone missed it. Once a year, we ask for financial support to help us provide a place for rest, reflection, and renewal.) 

Dear Friends, Supporters, and Retreatants,
 
Our hope for you is that you have weathered this storm of COVID change without too many losses, or that the changes and losses have not been overwhelming. We are grateful to have met our expenses due to the steady stream of individuals coming on retreat with a prayer to “restore my soul.” We are grateful to provide, with your help, this forested sanctuary for all those precious souls.
 
From a friend: “As one who has retreated here often over the years, Cedar Cross has become a ‘spiritual home.’ Perhaps you can resonate with that sense:  the trees, birds, rocks, and moss welcome you; there is a palpable, reciprocal love calling you home, home to your senses, home to your deep soul’s longing for that vast realm within, yet reflected and amplified without. We see and hear from the vast yet tender terrain of the heart.”
 
Our co-founder Margaret Hilpert’s dear, limited form is no longer with us, and we miss her. But her presence is everywhere, continuing to pervade all that we do, and all that Cedar Cross has been, is, and will be. She and John began taking steps to ensure the longevity of Cedar Cross before her death, and our intention is to remain faithful in providing this special place of rest, reflection, and renewal as long as the call continues.
 
In honor of Margaret’s creative legacy, we have dedicated time this year to cleaning, sorting, re-designing, painting, and re-envisioning the art studio, as well as creating a library/writing space in the former Garden Loft. Our hope is that the Studio and Library Loft will be a place of creativity and reflection that enriches our offerings here as we carry forward the lessons we learned from Margaret about spiritual formation through creative expression and study. We are grateful for all the gifts in memory of Margaret that we received last year.
 
We consider you a vital community of prayerful support and encouragement. We rely on you in those ways and financially as well. We ask for and appreciate your financial support.
 
Every season has its own beauty. Spirit is transforming lives here. We thank you for helping us create space for that transformation to happen.
 
Cedar Cross Mission Group
John Hilpert, Mac Hulslander, Vickie Grove,
Ginger Allen, Butch Grove, Julie Purcell, Jimmy Allen