View of the "Twelve Apostles", a rock formation on the Cape Peninsula next to Table Mountain, South Africa (Photo by PhillippN)

One does not travel from Albuquerque, New Mexico to South Africa with ease. Two days, two planes and too many in-flight movies later, Richard Rohr and I found ourselves in Cape Town, South Africa. Thankfully, the grit of airplane travel is overlooked when you land amongst the grandeur of the mountains and a warm winter sun.

After a warm welcome by our gracious hosts (with no shortness on the hospitality) Richard began addressing the crowds at the scheduled events in the Cape Town area. Sergio Milandri was the facilitator of the Men’s Retreat entitled “Wild Man to Wise Man” in the foothills of Mizpah, South Africa. Thanks to the groundwork laid by Sergio and his team the men on site were ready to journey further on their path.

As it happens in most gatherings of men when they meet for the first time, we found ourselves in a circle sizing one another up. The breakdown of fronts happened almost immediately as Richard invited the group to a deeper place that first night. Richard dismissed the men to meet in small groups to share some ‘I am’ statements with one another, still as strangers. When we gathered the next day for breakfast, a noticeable shift had occurred. An excitement was born from the strength shared through vulnerability of the ‘I am’ statements the night before.

Solitude, wilderness and wandering enraptured the rest of the afternoon. The combination proved to be a fruitful time for many of the men to reflect, ‘experience their experiences’ and be present. As the evening brought rains and cooler weather, the day had duly prepared the men for a healing ritual. Men of all generations shared their wounds and found camaraderie in supporting one another in this ritual. Everyone gathered recognized God’s presence at hand; in one another and in one’s own being.

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God is everywhere—if we have the eyes to see it, believe it and trust where God’s grace has already gone before us.

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I heard over and over again, ‘I’ve never been to a retreat like this’ or ‘This changes everything.’ Many of you reading this know that feeling from your own experiences of liminal space, that shift to a different way of being in the world. The South African men we encountered have been doing their work, preparing themselves to trust their deeper intuitions.

The time for breaking of our circle had come. Each man had given of himself and received the same gift in return. The diversity of God’s creative work was present as they left Mizpah and returned to their lives, whether in the rural areas, the impoverished townships, or the rich suburbs. God is everywhere—if we have the eyes to see it, believe it and trust where God’s grace has already gone before us.

I left South Africa with peace that seems foolish in the face of the complex barriers that South Africa still faces. I left touched by the shared faith of the men I met and the hope I saw in their eyes. We are all in this together, mirroring who we are and becoming beloved sons of God.