Roots and branches

The relationship between the roots of a tree and its branches: what an apt metaphor to describe the relationship cultivated within and sometimes among those who retreat at Knobs Haven and Cedars of Peace. Likely, all reading this article will agree that as the crown of a tree requires an even broader root system for support and stability, so is a similar relationship required between the inner and the outer aspects of us humans.

Some groups come to Knobs to tend to their personal or communal roots; reflection, prayer or meditation, nourishing relationships, being on the land and among wildlife … all of this helps to sustain their life’s work and makes their fruitful flourishing more possible. Others come to actually tend to their “branches,” to take note of the fruit that is ripening or the limbs that need pruning in their particular work or mission. The balance between the inner and the outer is never lost on us in this Motherhouse place of dedicated land and deep intention.

But never was the balance so clear as it was in mid-February when Knobs Haven hosted a four-day Centering Prayer retreat for 14 persons and a 30-hour working retreat for 26 staff and board members of Kentucky’s Community Farm Alliance (CFAKY). CFAKY promotes cooperation among rural and urban citizens to ensure an essential, prosperous place for family-scale agriculture in our economies and communities. The decision to host both groups simultaneously involved numerous Motherhouse staff and residents. As the one group, using both Knobs Haven retreat spaces, was intent upon their meeting, meditating and inner quieting, the other was, with both seriousness and animation, prioritizing, planning and strengthening the bonds among them for the coming year. Metaphorically speaking, if the two groups together were here to care for the ginkgo tree in front of the church, one of them was fertilizing its roots while the other was focused on its branching and fruiting.

Hosting this many people took the Motherhouse “village”: Sisters Maria, Mary, and Aggie generously opened their respective homes, and SLs and CoLs helped settle guests into those — and other! — spaces; Lisa Bowling and kitchen staff prepared and beautifully served tasty vegan meals; Renee Edelen and campus housekeeping staff worked their quiet preparation and cleaning magic, while staff involved with the Motherhouse farm and land (Cody and Angela, Jessie, Susan and Michael) networked with CFAKY over a lunch meal.

All of this was a keen reminder of what we already know: that roots bear no relevance without branches, and branches can’t survive without roots … that human beings long for self-expression through meaningful work and relationships, and such expression in this world requires soulful grounding … that each of us is supported and helped to thrive by countless known and unknown others … that all life calls for and offers opportunity for balance.