Last month (June 3-8) we hosted our first ever Los Olivos
retreat-pilgrimage in Córdoba, a Unesco heritage city, once the capital of
Al’Andalus.
The retreat explored the notion of fruitful and peaceful
coexistence (convivencia in Spanish)
between the three Abrahamic faith communities living in southern Spain at the
time: Mozarabic Christians, Sephardic Jews and Andalusi Muslims. Facilitated by
Daniel, and hosted by Guy, who also led the daily worship with other retreatants,
we also had the privilege of hearing the stories and wisdom of Ramón Fernández
(an expert in Sephardic Judaism from Casa Sefarad) and Javier Rosón (specialized
in contemporary Arab relations at Casa Árabe).
The feedback from those who joined us has been very
encouraging. These are some of the comments:
“It was a great first retreat away from the Sierra.”
“I came to learn and that I did. A lot.”
“I very much enjoyed the whole retreat and most especially
the input from the retreat leader and how well the discussion sessions were
led. Also the lovely choice of music and worship.”
“It is so helpful to learn in a different context and
culture - it opens our minds and thoughts to so many new perspectives and new
ways of seeing our own context and culture.”
“It was great to see the waves of mysticism/perennial
tradition travelling across the centuries, and seeing the application of
Convivencia to the current situation”.
“It felt like being with friends, even though I hadn't met
most of the people in the group before. The balance and "pitch" of
the input, time spent at the venue or on visits, and free time was just right.”
We want to thank all those who were part of our pilgrim
community in Córdoba last month for making it such a special week, and for continuing
to inspire us in our ministry at Los Olivos Retreats.
Shalom,
Daniel & Guy
