Sacred Quest

Why a Sacred Quest?

In this new millennium, living attentive and meaningful lives presents great challenges. We face enormous needs that leave us struggling with how to live in balance within ourselves and with all living things. Fatigue and over activity threaten to take over joy and purpose. All the while, we long to hear God’s call for life anew. 

A Sacred Quest invites people to enter into community and the solitude of wilderness to listen for God’s voice. It beckons people to discern the passion and wisdom of their heart and to bring what is theirs alone to give to the world.  It calls people to go out, not to leave others behind, but to discover how to engage and serve them more honestly and sustainably, how to participate in God’s justice and compassion here and now.

Too often our gifts become muddied in old, worn out ways of living and expired roles and relationships. To notice God’s call for this particular time in our lives, we often need to allow tired patterns and roles to die.  We need to make transitions. They may take the form of internal growth and transformation, of maturity such as moving into adulthood or elderhood, of relationships such as changing marital status or becoming a parent, or of a change in vocation. Whatever their form, these transitions involve both letting go and taking on. But too often we negotiate those passages without much intentionality and without much support from the people and communities with whom we live. The wilderness provides a graced container for those sacred transitions. The Mystery of God’s presence enlivens the earth and all its creatures, offering the human creature a mirror of love and truth in nature. In the wilderness we come to know ourselves before the Creator of the universe. Sacred Quest offers a journey into the wilderness to mark the movements of our lives by discerning the movements of the Spirit, as we seek to live into the loving of ourselves, our neighbors, and our God. The Quest, then, invites people to go out into the wilderness to fast and be in the solitude of nature for four days, so that they might return full of the love of God to share with the people of God.

Testimonial from Sacred Quest Participant

“The time in the desert was one of the most freeing experiences in my life.  My understanding of creation, self, God, politics, community and the human condition was challenged in beautiful ways.”

– Rev. Scott Hardin-Nieri, Fort Collins, Colo.

Sacred Quest’s Four Stages

Severance Stage
This stage begins when a person decides to engage in a Sacred Quest and turns toward the preparations for such an experience. From the outset one needs to clarify the purpose for going, naming as clearly as possible what transition she or he seeks to mark, what new life stage will be taken on and how to serve God’s people more fully. Severance includes physical, psychological, mental and spiritual preparations. You will receive material about these preparations once you have been received into the program.

Threshold Stage
This stage begins at dawn in the wilderness when you step through the threshold circle for the four-day solo time. The option to heighten your experience alone by fasting is a personal choice. The time alone in the wilderness invites you to discover your way with rituals, prayers, songs and personal ways to make meaning. The final night some choose to remain awake, consciously attending to the dying of the old self and the birthing of new life with the rise of the fifth morning’s sun.

Reincorporation Stage
This stage involves moving back into the body of our questing community. We will invite you to tell your story and listen to each other’s stories, discovering meanings and new gifts, confirming each one’s passage into a new life stage, sharing support, journaling and celebrating. And eating, of course!

Integration Stage
This stage presents the greatest challenges, calling for the most courage and commitment to what is life-giving. Discovering how to tell your story to family and friends helps you begin to integrate what you learned in the wilderness into your daily life and how to offer your gifts to your people.

Application
A letter of intent is due by July 5, 2010. Because of the intensity of this experience in the wilderness, intentional preparation is essential for a safe and meaningful process. Therefore, we request that you write a letter of intention for making such a quest at this time in your life. For questions about the letter, see the description of intent as noted in the Severance Stage (above). With quality and safety in mind, we are able to include six to ten people on the trip. Please submit your letter of intent by July 5, 2010 to Nancy Wiens, 247 Bret Harte, San Rafael, CA  94901 or via e-mail at nsw333@gmail.com. We will respond to your letter by July 30, at which time a $200 deposit will be due. No previous backpacking, camping or outdoor experience is required.

Program Dates & Costs
Arrival: Wednesday, October 20, by 7 p.m.
Departure: Sunday, October 31, after 7 p.m.
Program Cost: $800 pp includes transportation costs to wilderness area and food.
Additional costs:  On-campus lodging and meals for 3 days/4 nights. $55/night for a single room $32.50/night for a shared room.

Program Staff
The Sacred Quest will be co-led by Nancy Wiens and David Vieten.

Nancy Wiens is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a spiritual director and teacher. She began guiding Sacred Quests in 1996. She has a doctorate in the area of Christian Spirituality and has trained as a guide in both wilderness rites of passage and eco-psychology.

David Vieten owns a design and construction firm in Marin County, California. The licensed building contractor has a degree in filmmaking from the Academy of Art University. He has worked with a Peruvian trained spiritual leader for over a decade and began sacred questing in 2003. An avid camper and backpacker, he spent summers in his youth backpacking in the High Sierras and carries his love of the natural world into adulthood, most recently exploring the Trinity Alps last fall.