About
PLEASE NOTE: As this is a live recording, you may notice some audio variability and occasional background noise. “Here I Am: An Advent Retreat” with Therese DesCamp, Lorie Martin, and Milla McLachlan was recorded on December 11th 2025. This purchase includes a Zoom video recording with a total running time of approximately 2 hours. In this online retreat, the teachers invite participants to explore what it means to be contemplative without stepping away from ordinary humanity. Drawing on Cynthia Bourgeault’s use of the term mêtis, they present contemplation as a way of growing the capacity for timely, skillful response in real-life situations. Through the lens of Advent as a season of active, attentive waiting, the retreat looks at scriptural examples such as Solomon, Judith, Jesus, and especially Mary at the Annunciation. Participants are encouraged to notice how letting go of fear and listening with the heart can open a ready “yes” to the invitations of the Holy in daily life. The teaching also reflects on how traditional virtues, simple contemplative practices, and shared community can steady the body, mind, and heart for this kind of response. Attention is given to both the beauty and the challenge of practice, including how humility and persistence help us learn from the times we miss the mark. Therese DesCamp is a writer, spiritual director, and minister living in New Denver, B.C., Canada. Her most recent book is Hands Like Roots: Notes from an Entangled Contemplative Life. Lorie Martin is the vicar at St. Thomas Anglican Church in Chilliwack, B.C., Canada, the director of the inter-parish The Centre for Spiritual Renewal, and a contemplative retreat leader. Milla McLachlan is a coach, facilitator, and poet who lives in Portland, Oregon, USA.