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This past weekend, my housemates and I drove about two hours downs the coast to a secluded retreat center a few minutes from the small harbor town called Hermanus.  The retreat center had several guest houses, a meeting room, and several permanent residences but mostly it was grass trees and waterfalls.  We were surrounded by creeks, trails, and little well kept gardens.  The night sky was teeming with stars.  It was a beautiful place to spend a weekend.  

As it was a retreat, I was ready for the “crossing over” but I was disappointed (if you have never been on a visi retreat, don’t worry about this last sentence).  The retreat was based on the book Reconciliation: Restoring Justice.  John de Gruchy, the author, was a professor at University of Cape Town and now lives at the retreat center.  He was involved with the post apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  We learned that after legalized racism was repealed (in the 90′s) and the first open election was held the new leaders of South Africa wanted to create a process where the past could be left behind.  They created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, lead by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  The TRC gave an opportunity for political criminals to confess their crimes and show remorse for what they had done.  The TRC would then grant amnesty to some of the criminals.  We learned about this historical event and spent time trying to understand reconciliation in general.  

We had the opportunity to go into Hermanus on Saturday afternoon.  I made a short little video of the afternoon, enjoy:

To borrow from Garrison Keillor,

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch

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