Baltimore Sun–Trends: Spiritual vacations gaining popularity

At first, Julian Forth, a divinity student at Duke University, did not think he could squeeze in an overnight stay at Dayspring Retreat Center. An intern at both a Washington, D.C., hospice and a church coffeehouse, Forth also had two papers and a sermon to complete.
Upon further thought, he realized he had no choice. If he wanted to give every task his best effort, Forth had to visit Dayspring, where, for 24 hours, he could settle his mind.

And so Forth, 23, came to the retreat, a 200-acre tract of rolling meadows, wooded ridges, ponds and rambling trails in Germantown, Md., surrounded by suburban sprawl. There he spent the night and wandered the grounds for three hours in silence.

Then he was ready to resume his busy life in Washington.

”If you don’t take time for silence, you forget yourself and you crash,” he says. “Whatever silence you find here, you kind of carry with you through the day.”

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Posted in * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, America/U.S.A., Religion & Culture