Spiritual Centers

SILENCE IN THREE RIVERS: SPIRITUAL CENTERS TEACH SEEKERS “THE DIVINE LANGUAGE”

By Charles Honey

THREE RIVERS – The silence is deep, punctuated only by the chirping of a bird outside and the creaking of chairs in this sun-drenched chapel.

“Let’s begin singing,” David Wenger says, and begins humming a familiar tune in a splendid voice.

“For the beauty of the Earth, for the glory of the skies,” sang a dozen people arrayed in a circle. “Lord of all, to thee we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise.”

Thus begins another day at The Hermitage, a spiritual retreat center 80 miles south of Grand Rapids. Here, among the rolling cornfields north of Three Rivers, pilgrims find a quiet place to connect with God and rediscover themselves… Click here to read the full article.

Land of Abundance

by Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

Our friend James was talking recently in London, England, with a noted Catholic theologian and priest. After explaining that he moved to London from Grand Rapids, Michigan within the past year, James was surprised at the priest’s response: “Is that anywhere near Kalamazoo? Or Three Rivers?”

Grand Rapids, if it’s on a person’s map at all, is usually identified as being the home of mega-church Mars Hill or the mecca of Christian publishing—not usually with Kalamazoo and exceptionally rarely with the small town of Three Rivers, which lies 80 miles south of Grand Rapids, a straight shot on US 131. But for a small community of pilgrims around the world, Three Rivers is a significant destination….

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