I recently attended a fabric art workshop at Sorrento Retreat and Conference Centre. It was a beautiful time of year to be there, fall with its vibrant colours, textures, shapes, flowers, landscape, trees and leaves. This peaceful and quiet setting was perfect for our gathering of fabric artists over several days.
The workshop sessions were not spiritual in content, but they did take on a spiritual dimension for me because of the people who were there and how they interacted with one another by sharing ideas and encouragement. Through our instructor’s teaching we worked with fabric dyes which she brought with her for each of us to mix into colours of our choice. These resulting dye colours seemed to reflect the beauty of Sorrento and the season. Then we dyed cotton and other natural fabrics that we brought with us. This whole workshop took on a sense of participation in creation and prayer.
This experience was heightened by being at Sorrento Centre and its obvious connection with the beauty of creation. There are several places in the centre that invite prayer and contemplation. For example, the names of two of its buildings remind me that this is a spiritual place. “Spes Bona” means “Good Hope” and “Caritas” means “love of and for fellow people.” Sorrento Centre puts these meanings into action in a variety of ways including providing meals for those in need in town. St Francis Outdoor Chapel at the centre has a large cross which hangs high over a stone altar. Shuswap Lake in the distance can be seen from this place of prayer. In addition to the chapel there is an outdoor walking labyrinth which invites us to active meditation. There is also a “Kekuli,” an outdoor covered amphitheatre with a stage and fire circle for theatre arts presentations, concerts, lectures, dances and parties. All of these are a reflection of creation and its beauty.
The art that we created there seemed to be heightened by the place itself. For me Sorrento Centre is a “thin place” where I sense the presence of God both in my quiet times and in the community of which I have become a part. It has become a sacred place away from home where I can share in creation in two different ways.
