All of the most effective peacemakers - Buddha, Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk, to name a few - started with an internal search for peace. They were able to make peace with themselves and then the world.

People in the Capital Region have an unique opportunity to work on internal peace at the 13th annual Thomas Merton in the Mountains retreat held at the Pyramid Life Center in Paradox. This contemplative retreat, lead by Walt Chura, is always held the first weekend after Labor Day.

Merton was a silent force in the beginning of the antinuclear and antiwar movements in the early '60s. It is speculated that he had a huge influence on President Kennedy though his correspondence with Ethel Kennedy.

At the time, he was writing passionate articles protesting the nuclear arms race and of course was a controversial figure. This worried the Catholic Church, and his monastic superiors ordered him to stop publishing such articles promoting peace.

He was obedient and stopped publishing but not writing. He carried on vociferous correspondence on the subject with a number of well-known people, including Clare Booth Luce, nuclear physicist Leo Szilard, Evora Arca de Sardinia - the wife of a Cuban exile leader of the CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion - and Shinzo Hamai - the mayor of Hiroshima - to name a few. He had his letters mimeographed (not published), bound and sent to friends in January 1963, calling them “The Cold War Letters”.

He also predicted the assassination of President Kennedy in a letter to W.H. Ferry. I'll write about that in more depth in another blog.

There are three unsung gems to enjoy, beginning with the retreat itself. While the weekend will include several talks on Merton’s contemplative spirituality and intervals of common prayer, it is guided by Merton’s own proposal of leaving retreatants extended silent periods without “organized activity ... and more time simply to get oneself back into one’s right mind ... [E]ven for those who find silence and solitude oppressive, there is a certain value in just disciplining oneself to be ‘empty’ and to spend time doing nothing ...”

“Don't just do something – sit there” is the retreat motto.

After spending Friday evening to Sunday morning in silence, I feel like I've been on vacation for two weeks. No cellphones, no pagers, no TV, no radio, no newspapers, etc. It's the best break from the culture you'll find in these parts.

I attended the retreat in 2001 on the weekend before 9/11, and it gave me the grace to deal with all that was happening around me without resorting to revenge or victimization.

The second gem is Pyramid Life Center. Located off Exit 28 of the Northway, it is several acres of wild forest complete with waterfalls and its own private lake graced with an island. As many times as I have been there - and it's been many many times - I never fail to be awed and astounded by the beauty of the place.

The third is Mr. Chura himself. He's the head of the local chapter of the International Merton Society, is the minister of apiritual formation for the local chapter of the Secular Order of Franciscans and a spiritual director for folks in the area. Mr. Chura has taught at the College of St. Rose and Siena College and is also part of the Emmaus House/Albany Catholic Worker extended community (the CW's are great people to speak truth to power with; they plan and host incredible civil disobedience actions). Walt's about as nice and interesting a person as you'll ever meet.

The retreat runs from 5 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5 to noon, Sunday, Sept. 7. The cost is $120 per person, all inclusive. At twice the price, it would still be a bargain.

For information about registration or accommodations call -7545, e-mail monicaplc@aol.com or visit www.pyramidlife.org. Feel free to contact Walt at 518-456-3201 or wwchura@yahoo.com.

“... if you go into solitude with a silent heart, the silence of creation will speak louder than the tongues of men or angels.” - Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island.

“Our real journey in life is interior: it is a matter of growth, deepening, and of the ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts. Never was it more necessary for us to respond to that action.” - The Asian Journal