Hello everyone. It’s been 7 months since my last confession blogpost. A friend from Dallas urged me to write again. Thanks for the push Benz. So I’m back in the blogging saddle with some news. In just 9 sleeps from today, I’m joining a new cohort!

Backstory: After my Dallas cohort ended in 2023, I was encouraged to continue learning about contemplation and the Enneagram. I discovered Inscapes here in Winnipeg and took a once/month course last winter/spring. I enjoyed it thoroughly and learned they were part of a larger 2-year course called Prairie Jubilee.

Just as I had with the Dallas cohort, I heard an inner “YES” from God/the universe. After discernment through prayer and with my community, I signed up! It starts on September 27, just a few days away from now. At this time, I’m just taking year 1 (which is actually 16 months), and it’s almost all on zoom, so no more long distance travel. There will be 13 participants across four Canadian time zones with four instructors.  

What is Prairie Jubilee? Short answer from their website: “It is a two-year experience in self-development and self-realization focused on the ancient symbol of the Enneagram.” There are 10 weekend “modules” with smaller meetings in between, essays to write guided by a reader/mentor, a silent retreat, plus an assignment called “Journey Groups”. I’ll receive spiritual direction from Carol Ann Gotch, a wise Christian woman who runs a retreat center on Lake Winnipeg. Honestly, I’m not even sure what it all entails, but I trust what I’ve heard so far. My deepest desire is that it leads me more deeply to discover my truest self in Christ. I won’t ever stop wanting that. 

When I began this blog, I wanted to call it “the “”The Wannabe Contemplative Blogger” to avoid any impression that I’ve arrived and “above it”, but the title felt too cumbersome. Anyone who knows me, knows this contemplative has a bad case of monkey mind. Many days I feel a bit like I’m drowning and in need of a life raft. Many days I’m riddled with anxiety, skimming the surface of life…hardly a contemplative. But apparently God loves broken people and keeps no limit on second chances. Richard Rohr says that grace is God’s first name, and probably last too. God loves us wannabes.

Thomas Merton once said “With God, a little sincerity goes a long, long way”. I’m bringing my “devotional sincerity” to the table, fully aware that it’s arising out of my poverty. And as Kate Bowler says, “Christian hope is like an anchor that God tosses way out into the future and reels us toward it, part of an unimaginably beautiful yet unseen future ordained and ushered in through Jesus’s saving work.”

I’m so grateful God’s given me another boat to carry me through the next chapter of my life.