In a lot of ways Rev. Clay Brantley is a big kid. In other ways, he is a wise old man. So, it might be best to describe him as a Gilmont Camper! He’s led Spiritual Practices retreats for adults, served as a Bible Study leader at Summer Camp, participated in a variety of retreats and now serves on our Board of Directors. In the midst of the uncertain world we find ourselves in today, we hold to real stuff; that which is comforting, that which is reassuring, that which is hopeful. In that spirit, Rev. Clay Brantley wrote a poem in celebration of Gilmont’s 80th Birthday. Although we are not able to gather at Gilmont today, this place holds blessings of yesterday and hope for tomorrow.
Gilmont Thoughts
I sense in me and in others a deep yearning
to connect and experience and know God,
the one who creates us, calls us
and gives our lives meaning.
In this yearning is the desire
To have extended moments,
A time for listening and being and learning with Christ
That is outside of our normal routine.
This is Gilmont
I sense in me and in others a desire
To connect and know others
In ways I cannot through emails and meetings and lunches.
I want to be known and to know others
Deeper than just their names or the work they do or where they live.
I want to encounter their soul and they encounter mine.
This is Gilmont
I sense in me and in others a profound wanting
To connect with myself.
To be willing to be present with me
Beyond the distractions of everyday life.
To bring together all the scatter pieces of me
That run in many directions.
I want some way to see me, know me.
Truly love me and be loved by me.
Where can I connect with me in this profound way?
This is Gilmont.
I sense in me and in others a hunger
To connect with nature
To connect with creation, with the Earth from which we come.
So many times, my connections
With God
With others
With myself
Have happened in the midst of nature.
There is something inviting, freeing, life-giving
When I spend an extended period of time,
Hours and days
Among the trees and flowers, birds and sky, lakes and trails.
This is Gilmont
We are in a time of disconnection
From God, from one another, from self, from nature.
More and more of us believe there is no God, no deep connections,
No life-giving gifts from nature we need to receive.
Gilmont is more than a conference center
A place to which retreat.
It is a critical piece to the survival of our species
To the sanity of our race
To the yearnings of our soul
To the connections with Life Itself.
Gilmont offers us the space to connect,
To live
To love
To be
That we do not find in our normal walks of life.
This we must shout from the hills and lakes and trees of Gilmont
Come and connect.
