As we get closer to our retreat and our time discussing The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde I want to share some background on the man behind the story. Linked here is a brief overview of Robert Louis Stevenson’s life and some of his works from the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum in St. Helena, California. You can also explore this website to learn more about Stevenson from their list of biographies, timelines, and more. Thank you to Dawn Rhymer for sharing this resource with me.
Dear CMER 2025 Attendees:
Announcing a new addition to the Retreat this year: The Common Room.
Imagine a visit to The Kilns in Oxford, England. It is the former home of C.S. Lewis, his brother Warnie, and for a too-short three-year marriage, the home of Joy Davidman, Mrs. C.S. Lewis. Across the hall from the Dining Room was the Common Room, a book-lined room with easy chairs, a writing desk, and a fireplace. If the walls could talk, they could relate many conversations about religion, news, and their creative work.
We have set aside a similar space for you at the Hideaway, albeit minus the smoky haze. The Common Room will be available around the clock for conversations, conviviality, and creativity. Bring a handicraft from home or take advantage of puzzles and a pixel art project that will be there for you. It will be a cozy atmosphere, replete with tea and chocolate. Hope to see you there!
Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.1
The feeding of the 5,000 is probably a familiar story to Christ-followers: the miraculous provision, the tender compassion, the life-giving teaching. It is within this narrative of teaching and training his disciples, of meeting the needs of the multitudes, that Jesus offers a remarkable invitation to come away with Him to a quiet place.
The word retreat comes from the Latin verb retrahere, which means to pull back, to withdraw. Sometimes, we need to step away from the day-to-day so that we can get a better view of where we are, where we are headed, and where we might need to make a course adjustment.
Your business is to fix his attention on the stream of immediate sense experiences. They find it all too impossible to believe in the unfamiliar while the familiar is before their eyes. Do remember you are there to fuddle him.2
So Screwtape counsels his nephew Wormwood, a demon in training. Parents, above all others, are immersed daily in the mundane. The daily needs, so familiar, can easily eclipse the unfamiliar. From time to time, we all need a “pause that refreshes.”3
As you prepare for CMER 2025, recall Jesus’ invitation and take a few moments to consider what is drawing you to this Retreat and to prayerfully offer up these needs and desires to the Great Provider, God Himself.
Consider also how reachable you will be while on retreat and what role technology will be permitted to play. It is good advice to—literally and figuratively—close the tabs on your browser. Turn off the phone. Ask, “What else?” is needed so that you may find rest, hear a fresh revelation, and be fully present in the gift of the time we will share. Prepare to enter into the silence and the conversations through which God may speak to you at the retreat.
My family will be together for the holidays. We will enjoy talking about good meals, board games, family vacations, and folksongs; just a few shared memories that knit us together as a family.
In a few short weeks, attendees from eleven states will gather at The Hideaway for CMER 2025. Nearly a third are new to the retreat. We will sing a folksong. It is our prayer that this time of singing together, laughing, and learning a new song or recalling an old favorite, will be the first of many shared memories that we will forge over the weekend.
Do you want a sneak peek? Name that tune in five words: “Well now, take down your…”
We are looking forward to singing with you!
We are looking forward to our book discussion at the retreat as one of our evening activities. Please join us in a relaxed time of gathering together to share our thoughts and discoveries after reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s 19th century novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Published in 1886, this story is one most of us know in some form, whether we have read it or not. Its interesting portrayal of the enigmatic Dr. Jekyll whose experiments to separate himself into two personalities, the one wholesome and virtuous and the other full of every vice, has proved fascinating to readers since its publication. So much so, that there have been adaptations of the story up through recent history from the Bugs Bunny cartoon to The Far Side comics and even a musical. As we follow Dr. Jekyll’s story, the compelling questions it raises about the human struggle with evil will provide fertile ground for our discussion. I hope you’ll join us!
As you read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, consider keeping a Commonplace book to record the passages and dialogue that spark your interest and enjoyment, raise questions, and invite reflection.
O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t.
(Miranda, Act 5 Scene 1)
Mason advises us to read Shakespeare continuously throughout life; the Bard is a feast worthy of a prolonged repast.
Attendees at the 2025 Retreat can grow in this habit of Shakespeare. Saturday evening, there will be an option to participate in a reading of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. All are welcome; no acting experience is necessary. Guaranteed to be good fun. I hope to see you there!