What We Learned on the Retreat

Erin posted already about the great time that we had on the retreat. I wanted to share a bit of what we did and learned, so that those of you who couldn't go can get a taste of what you missed.

The short version of what we learned: not everyone worships God in the same way.

Yeah, the long version is way better. The inspiration for the weekend was a book called Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas. The book describes nine pathways that people take to connect with and worship God:

• Traditionalist: Someone who approaches God through ritual and symbolism
• Intellectual: Someone who approaches God through thought and study
• Sensate: Someone who approaches God through the use of the senses (sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing)
• Enthusiast: Someone who approaches God through excitement and celebration
• Activist: Someone who approaches God through involvement and working to right injustices
• Ascetic: Someone who approaches God through solitude
• Contemplative: Someone who approaches God through adoration
• Naturalist: Someone who approaches God through nature
• Caregiver: Someone who approaches God by loving others
  

These definitions are all based on memory, so feel free to clarify/discuss in the comments.

One of the neatest things about the retreat was that after a brief teaching session about each pathway, we tried them out. Some were very easy and fulfilling (I could have walked outdoors enjoying the Naturalist session for hours), and some less so (I enjoyed the Sensate session, but didn't strongly feel that I was drawing closer to God during that time). If you liked a pathway, the practice session was great, but ended too soon. And even if you absolutely weren't compatible with a pathway, you knew the practice session would be over eventually.

As a result of the retreat, God gave me (and almost certainly others) some insight into some of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Not everyone connects to God like I do (which is good, because I tend towards the ascetic end of things). Even though I might not be able to understand how some of you connect to God, it doesn't mean that your pathway is any less than mine (many of the pathways came with a caution against judging others). In fact, Jesus illustrated most or all of the pathways, so they're all pathways that God in the flesh followed.

For those of you that went to the retreat: what session(s) did you enjoy? What's your pathway? I already mentioned I'm a bit of an ascetic, and I have naturalist and caregiver tendencies. Were there any pathways that just didn't make any sense to you?

And for those of you that didn't go: what do you think your favorite pathways are?