Enriched by Grace

I was running on empty — high stress, low energy. After a week of long days and nights at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee, where our staff prepared a daily paper and gathered material for our October issue, I faced a three-hour drive to the Sinsinawa [Wis.] Dominican Mound Center to begin a two-year Lutheran spiritual formation program called Grace Institute.

Where would I gather energy? How would my brain function anymore?

So much about the Grace Institute — and its relaxed rural setting atop a tree-ringed hill just miles from the Mississippi River — provided healing and inspiration. The peaceful center, the nourishing meals of homegrown and home-baked foods, the warmth of the Dominican community and the nurturing presence of the institute staff embraced all 50 participants