We’ll open the day with a guided walking meditation that awakens in us the qualities of stewardship and care for community that dwell in us as active Elders.

Next we’ll harvest our ideas and insights about the visions of the 3 classic Life Stages ~Youngers, Middlers, and Active Elders ~ in small groups following the World Café design. Here are some of the questions we’ll reflect on:

• What are the prototypical visions of youngers, middlers and active elders?
• What gifts do these lifestage visions offer each other?
• What support do these lifestage visions need from each other?
• What can community problem-solving look like when participants are conscious of lifestage visions?

We’ll initiate the focus on mentoring with a guided imagery that puts participants in touch with memories of their favorite mentors. From these recollections, we’ll brainstorm about how the mentoring relationship can be shaped to serve the challenges of today.

Throughout the day, we’ll weave in some of the songs, dances and play our Ancestors used to mark their days.

Kaia Svien, MS, meditation instructor, author, and adjunct professor in Holistic Health Studies at St. Catherine University, blends ancient wisdom about eldering, deep listening, and loving kindness with the community spirit that gathers for a retreat.

Eric Utne, entrepreneur and Senior Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality and Healing, launches innovative community endeavors such as the Utne Reader and currently the Community Earth Councils (CECs) which bring elders and youngers together at the neighborhood level to address global, social, and environmental challenges.

WHERE: Carondelet Center, 1890 Randolph Ave., St. Paul

COST: $40, includes lunch