Sharing A Reflection
By Peter Wrinch of the Retreat Center Collaboration Stewardship Circle
In a moment marked by grief, anger, confusion, and deep uncertainty, Peter Wrinch offers a powerful reminder of why retreat centers matter — as places that help us turn toward one another.
In his recent blog post, Retreat Centers Were Built for These Times, Peter reflects on a visit to Mount Madonna earlier this year, during an ongoing period of national violence and unrest. What stayed with him was not retreat as escape, but retreat as presence: conversations at meals, shared moments of mourning, and the simple but profound experience of not being alone.
A Place to Grieve & to Gather
Peter describes Mount Madonna as a place shaped by shared experience rather than isolation. In the redwoods — along the hiking trails, in communal spaces, and around dinner — people processed disbelief, sorrow, and collective care in community.
The mountain became what retreat centers are meant to be: a container for humanity in real time.
As he writes, “The greatest danger in times like these is not despair — it is disappearance.” Retreat centers counter that disappearance by inviting embodiment and connection. They offer space to show up and remember who we are together, so we can return to the world more whole.
Not Escape, but Preparation
For nearly five decades, Mount Madonna has had the honor and privilege to serve as a sanctuary for personal practice, positive transformation, and community life rooted in service and relationship. Peter’s reflection reaffirms a truth we embrace: retreat is not withdrawal from responsibility, but preparation for it.
In times of fracture, it is our duty at Mount Madonna to help people slow down, tend to the present, and reconnect; not to retreat from the world’s pain, but to meet it with greater clarity, compassion, and resolve.
As Peter reminds us, we are called to be “nodes of light,” a place that models the kind of togetherness our world urgently needs. We aim to continue to be of service to our local and, indeed, worldwide community.
Mount Madonna is fortunate to currently be working with Peter Wrinch as a consultant in building our new philanthropy program.
→Read Retreat Centers Were Built for These Times by Peter Wrinch
