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Forest Dwelling Program

Spirituality for Our Wisdom Years

Cohort 4 Applications will Open Summer 2024!

Are you hearing a call to explore a deeper spirituality as you age?

Step into the Forest with us!

We encourage interested Forest Dwellers to apply for our next cohort (2025-2026). Online applications for Cohort 4 will open July 1, 2024.

(PLEASE NOTE: there is no active application for the FDP until that time)

If you would like to be notified when applications or additional program information become available, please email us at ForestDwelling@ost.edu – We will add you to our list of “Interested Dwellers”!

"We lack a developed spirituality for the second-half of life. – Our churches and theological circles have too little to offer in terms of spiritual guidance for us as we move beyond our youthful years, especially as this pertains to aging and moving towards death. Setting itself within the archetypal image of Forest-Dwelling wherein spiritual seekers withdraw into the deep forest to live there and be instructed by the Elders, this program will draw on scripture, the mystics, select spiritual writers, and the best in secular literature to offer some spiritual and psychological counsel for our wisdom years."

Forest Dwelling Program: Spirituality for our Wisdom Years

This two-year program of education and formation will include two six-day gatherings on the campus of Oblate School of Theology (virtual or in-person – recordings available), 2 five-day virtual Gatherings, semester sessions of spirituality and aging content between each gathering, monthly elder circles to integrate concepts into the life events of an elder, regular spiritual direction and habitual contemplative practice in line with a participant’s primary spiritual tradition. Program may be taken completely online if desired. A certificate will be awarded upon completion.

 Two-year program of education and formation will include in-person and virtual options for:

  • 2 six-day Gatherings at OST (January 5-10, 2025 & January 4-9, 2026) (virtual or in-person, recordings available)
  • 2 five-day virtual Gatherings (June 2-6, 2025 & June 1-5, 2026) (virtual only, recordings available)
  • 4 Sessions between gatherings consisting of 10+ weekly talks each period (recordings available)
  • Monthly Elder Circles (via Zoom)
  • Monthly Discussion Groups (via Zoom)
  • Harvest Project (optional)

Recommended:

Monthly Spiritual Direction
Daily Contemplative Practice

The Forest Dwelling Program (FDP) is conceived as a dynamic interplay among the individual, the FDP community and Divine Mystery. All elements are seen as vital to the transformation happening within participants. This program is designed to offer a delicious buffet of new ideas, experiences, people, poetry, arts and Mystery in which you are invited to taste, chew on, set down, go back for more, spit out, or simply marvel at the wonders of the material being presented. Though people may benefit from taking individual classes, retreats, or reading books about the spirituality of aging, the sustained immersion in this program is designed to keep you grounded in such a way that significant transformation occurs and sets the stage for spiritual fruitfulness, even as the body physically diminishes over the years.

The fourth cohort will be held January 2025 through November 2026, and will include up to 50 participants from a variety of geographic locations and spiritual traditions. Sessions 1 – 4 will be led by our core faculty. The gathering dates for the fourth cohort are:

  • (Sunday) January 5th through (Friday) 10th, 2025
  • (Monday) June 2nd through (Friday) June 6th 2025
  • (Sunday) January 4th through (Friday) 9th, 2026
  • (Monday) June 1st through (Friday) June 5th 2026

Here is a snapshot of FDP offerings:

  • 2 six-day in-person or virtual Gatherings (January 2025 & January 2026)
  • 2 five-day virtual gatherings (June 2025 & June 2026)
  • 4 sessions consisting of 10+ weekly talks on various topics of aging (January – May, August – November in 2025 & 2026.)
  • 30 Elder Circle groups (3 circles per gathering + monthly Zoom meetings. No circles in December.)
  • Optional monthly discussion groups
  • Sacred Life Review
  • Harvest Project
  • Concluding Faculty Presentations and Commencement (November 2026, virtual)

Applications for the Forest Dwelling Program will be available online starting July 1, 2024. Below is a snapshot of our application process:

  • Complete online and submit a program application, non-refundable application fee ($50), and (2) letters of recommendation. Note: your application is not considered “complete” until all (3) items above have been received.
  • The FDP staff will begin reviewing completed applications on July 30, 2024, and sending decision letters to applicants.
  • Online applications for the (2025-2026) Cohort will close on November 1, 2024.
  • Due upon acceptance: $500 tuition deposit to hold your spot.

Note: The Forest Dwelling Program has its own application that differs from the application available using the yellow “apply now” and “apply” button. Currently, our application is inactive. It will be made active and available on the Forest Dwelling Program main webpage July 1, 2024.

(2025-2026) Cohort tuition: $5,000

The tuition for the full two-year program is listed above. We offer tuition incentives for those paying in one or two payments. We also offer a discount for couples or members of the same household / religious order.

3 payment options:

  • 1 payment of $4,500 (10% discount) due by:
    • December 1,  2024
  • 2 payments of $2,375.00 (5% discount) due by:
    • December 1,  2024
    • December 1,  2025
  • 4 payments of $1,250 (no discount) due by:
    • December 1,  2024
    • May 1, 2025
    • December 1,  2025
    • May 1, 2026

Note: Students who would benefit from smaller, more frequent payment plans can set up a monthly payment plan with the Business Office. No discounts are offered when electing to enroll in a payment plan.

Additional Discounts:

We are offering a discount for households. It is available to couples who share the same household, and to members of religious orders who live in the same area. The discount for couples is 50% for the second-enrolled spouse. If either spouse withdraws from the program, the discount is no longer applied. For two members of the same religious order, the same logic applies. However, if more than two members of an order are enrolling, please contact us for details. Discounts can be “stacked” if you qualify for the household discount and also decide to pay in 1 or 2 payments.

The Forest Dwelling Program works hard to offer partial scholarship opportunities to enable those with financial hardship to enroll. Application for scholarships will be a part of the online application process available starting July 1,  2024. Applicants will be notified of scholarship awards in mid-November 2024. For additional information, please contact Emmett Gonzalez (egonzalez@ost.edu). 

The Forest Dwelling Program is able to offer a full-tuition scholarship for (1) Forest Dweller in the (2025 – 2026) cohort. The intent of this award is to allow attendance for someone without the financial means. Recipients will be nominated for the Life of Service Scholarship (L.O.S.S.) based on a strong commitment to serving others in capacities such as educator, nurse, caregiver, stay-at-home parent, nonprofit work, and ministries. Recipients will also need to be accepted into the FDP, demonstrating interest and readiness to do the spiritual work of an elder. For more information about the Life of Service Scholarship, nomination forms, and applications please email our program manager, Emmett Gonzalez (egonzalez@ost.edu). 

If you are not able to commit to the full two-year program but would like to have access to FDP content, you can enroll as an “enrichment student”. For more information, please contact Emmett Gonzalez (egonzalez@ost.edu). 

The four sessions sponsored by the Forest Dwelling Program can also be taken for academic credit by eligible graduate students.

 

For additional information, please contact Emmett Gonzalez (egonzalez@ost.edu).

May the light of your soul mind you,
May all of your worry and anxiousness
about becoming old be transfigured.
May you be given a wisdom with the eye of your soul,
to see this beautiful time of harvesting.
May you have the commitment to harvest your life,
to heal what has hurt you, to allow it to
come closer to you and become one with you.
May you have great dignity,
may you have a sense of how free you are,
and above all may you be given the wonderful gift
of meeting the eternal light and beauty
that is within you.
May you be blessed, and may you find a wonderful
love in yourself for yourself.

~ John O’Donohue

In this part of the journey, you will enter into the Forest, setting your intention and exploring what you need to pack for this journey, and equally important, what you will need to unpack – old ideas, spiritual understandings, beliefs, and wounds. It’s a time for exploring new ways of being, of serving, of discipleship. It’s a time to explore and expand our ways of seeing the world. It’s a time for experiencing new contemplative practices. We begin to explore questions such as: What is your relationship with your aging body, your place as an elder in community, your maturing relationship with God, and how will this be lived out in the ripening elder years? It is coming face-to-face with the biological, psychological, emotional and spiritual changes which are pushing us away from the familiar territory of our younger life into the Unknown, and seeing these as rites of initiation into another way of life rather than as signs of the end. Talks, elder circles, praxis, and a general orientation to the ways of the Forest will help each participant to enter into this sacred journey of conscious aging. Gathering will be available in-person at OST, or via Zoom. All talks will be recorded.

Talks may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Situating the Season of Forest Dwelling – Spirituality and the Seasons of our Lives
  • Elder Circle Guidelines and Gifts
  • Beginning with the End in Mind
  • Beyond the Bucket List
  • The Approach to the Forest
  • The Four Spiritual Stages of Mature Adulthood
  • An Anthropology of Aging – the Intent of God and Nature
  • Creating a Living Spiritual Will
  • Rooted and Grounded in Love
  • Walk Slowly, Bow Often
  • Mindfulness Practice and the Sacrament of the Present Moment
  • Images of God: Rescuing God from Narrowness, Tribalism, Sexism, Nationalism, Legalism and other Images Unworthy of God

In session 1 (January – May 2025), you will truly enter into the Forest with weekly teachings on a mature theology of aging based on the seminal work of Fr Ronald Rolheiser, OMI. His work draws on scripture, the mystics, and secular and spiritual writing. This session will be available for in-person attendance at OST or for virtual attendance via Zoom. Each talk will be recorded if you are not able to attend live. Taught by Fr Ron Rolheiser, OMI.

In this part of the journey, we wander into new territory, encountering what no longer works, confronting fears, noticing the emotions that come when we are no longer valued in the ways we once were. It’s a time of letting go, of squarely facing all that we have lost. We experience grieving in a way that allows us to fully enter into the pain of life, while allowing it to transform us. We are finding new spiritual practices, a new rhythm, a new Sabbath in keeping with our changing lives. We are learning “to rest in God instead of restlessly seeking God.” (Augustine, Ron Rolheiser.) This is a time of Holy Wandering, leading to new experiences of Divine Presence within and all around us. “It is this unsettling that encourages us to practice in solidarity with the Earth beneath our feet: life right here, right now” (Rev Mary Earle). Liturgy, talks, elder circles, and praxis will be a shared communal experience. Virtual attendance only. Recordings will be available.

Talks may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • A Spirituality of Aging – Towards a New Generativity
  • Creative Releasing: Letting Go of Resentment
  • Images of Age
  • Creative Releasing: Letting Go of Regret
  • Struggling with the Darkness of Faith
  • Returning to the Source – A Christian/Taoist perspective on the Stages of Spiritual Development
  • Aging and Loss: Weaving a New Shelter
  • Why Read a Poem at a Time Like This?
  • Creative Releasing: Letting Go of Resistance
  • Going Over that River Hard to See: Befriending Our Griefs and Our Deaths
  • Sexuality & Inconsummation – Some Maverick Reflections

Session 2 (August – November 2025) is a three-part semester conversation that will focus first on how poetry and art may enhance prayer, reflection, and creative work in this season of life; second on T.S. Eliot’s final poems, Four Quartets, as an invitation to contemplative practice and spiritual maturity; and third how images of age in poetry and art can mirror and expand the ways we see ourselves and each other in our later years. This is a time of Holy Wandering, leading to new experiences of Divine Presence within and all around us. Taught by Marilyn McEntyre, Ph.D.

Midway through the journey this gathering will be a water stop to reflect on where we have been together, and where we are headed in the next year. In this part of the journey, we begin to make discoveries amidst the realities of aging. We face our mortality as a way to transform the way we are currently living. Being fully present to the burdens and blessings of the aging process invites us into acceptance of the final season of our lives. We encounter a shift from activities of achievement and being self-important, to one of fruitfulness, passivity and facing our deaths, often within spiritual darkness. The aging process is bringing us into the deeper realm of the spiritual (Kathleen Dowling Singh), and Mystery unfolds in us as individuals and as a community of dwellers. How will we “be” in the challenges we face? “How much kinder we would be to ourselves, how much wiser, if we were to have already transformed loneliness into aloneness, far before the time of our death.” (Kathleen Dowling Singh, The Grace in Aging). How will we be transformed as we discover freedom from old habits and die to old ways of doing and being? We open to discover the joy of liberation from the demand for perfection, and to savor unexpected release as our attitude of attachment softens into loving detachment. This is a time characterized by living, dying and living anew. This gathering will also include opening and closing liturgy, talks, elder circles, and praxis. Gathering will be available in-person at OST, or via Zoom. All talks will be recorded.

Talks may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Passivity as Fruitfulness and a Gift to Others – Giving our “Deaths” Away
  • Entering the Coracle: Being Carried by Currents of Divine Love
  • How the Arts Prepare Us to Face Death
  • Exploring Unhealed Wounds with a Compassionate Heart as We Age
  • After Death Stories: Faith, Fiction, or Medical Mystery?
  • Transformation – the Paradigm of the Paschal Mystery
  • Arriving at the Place of Resurrection: Going to Home We Have Never Left
  • The Autumn of our Lives – Its Innate Invitations and Imperatives

In these weeks (January – May 2026), we begin to make discoveries amidst the realities of aging. We face our mortality as a way to transform the way we are currently living. Being fully present to the burdens and blessings of the aging process invites us into acceptance of the final season of our lives. This course draws on various religious Wisdom traditions as well as philosophical and psychological perspectives to provide thought-provoking material to help you move into a new relationship with diminishment, death, dying, and open you to new ways of being. “How much kinder we would be to ourselves, how much wiser, if we were to have already transformed loneliness into aloneness, far before the time of our death.” Discover the liberation and joy which emerge in the process of “dying before you die” as mystics of various traditions invite us to do. Taught by Cliff Knighten, Ph.D.

In this last part of our time together in community, we prepare for the journey out of the forest as elders, as “holy old fools” (Richard Rohr). Learning to live in a new, mystical understanding of the Body of Christ, living with mature paradigms of Resurrection and the afterlife, finding the peace of living in shared humanity. As I harvest the fruits of this Forest Dwelling journey, what will I have to give away? How will I share this growing freedom that comes with the unpacking of old wounds, the flowing of love and compassion for all, including myself? Who am I as I leave the forest shelter? How will I live in the Light of a new wisdom, informed and willing to surrender fully to life as it is? I am ready to live life as a wise elder, not just a person who is aging. Liturgy, talks, elder circles, and praxis will be a shared communal experience. Virtual attendance only. Recordings will be available.

Talks may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Blessing Others – Our Last Greatest Gift
  • Wisdom from St. David of Wales: ‘Remember the Little Things’
  • What’s Happening – Unfolding, Emerging, Erupting, Awakening
  • Emerging into Love: Be Thou My Vision
  • A Mystic’s Guide to Transformation
  • Elder Wisdom for Fractured Times
  • Beloved Community – The Search for Beloved Community in Our Midst
  • Prayer Language: New Words for New Seasons of Prayer
  • The Last Word is Legacy
  • Out of the Depths – Witnessing Dementia
  • Late Generativity as helping “Carry” the Tensions within the Community – to “Ponder” in the Biblical Sense

In these weeks, (August – November 2026), we prepare for the journey out of the Forest as elders, as “holy old fools” (Richard Rohr). This session will focus on what a wise elder is meant to bring to the community by offering a quiet prophecy to the world, radiating God’s compassion, rescuing God from narrowness, blessing the young and bringing God’s smile to the world. It is a movement designed to lead to the “beggar’s hut” of graced humility and wisdom. Participants will also be encouraged to harvest the fruits of their Forest Dwelling Program journey in some creative way. This may be an inner harvesting, knowing the joy of simply sharing their transformation with family, friends or community.

FDP Testimonials

Is it possible to blossom at age 80? In our culture, meaningful connection with other elders is a challenge and yet we sense we are not alone. The Forest Dwelling program invites you to proceed at your own pace and choose a life-changing, life-giving path to greater wisdom and faith. In a noise-filled world, we learn to listen to our souls.

Pat Timpanaro

I am so inspired, encouraged, lifted up and amazingly proud to be among such good company as my fellow Forest Dwellers from Cohort #1 and the others who have followed. I cannot fully express how my experience in the very first cohort changed my life, both spiritually, intellectually and physically.  And the bounty keeps on giving.

Sam Gilliam

I am constantly amazed at the dedication of the Program instructors to the personal spiritual and human development of each participant.  We are a very diverse group, but the leaders seem to know each of us individually and feed each of us exactly where we are, as the Spirit provides the sustenance we need through them.

Paul S.

This is my fifth year in the Forest and maybe I am a slow learner because I keep learning more and more. I think that the mere fact that we do this in community, with people who are also questioning, and soaking in what we can receive from the Forest, really makes a difference. Being part of a community like this helps the natural process of evolving, deepening, and letting go.

Maggie Meigs

God  continues to bless us with beauty all around us as we are called to take a deep dive into diminishment, so we both take turns caring for each other, grateful to have each other and looking forward to the next 10 years, God willing. I certainly feel like I am better equipped for the last leg of our journey home because of the Forest Dwellers program.

Gloria Hofer

I am noticing that, since being in the Forest Dweller Program, I really have gotten more motivation to make peace with my diminishments. That has been a very difficult thing for me to do. It is a major part of what I did as a Forest Dweller and what I continue to do now. I can see that I’m moving towards surrender. There is much more peace in my life and I think as I go through this process I notice that coming out of the Forest Dwelling Program – I am getting more [spiritual] directees. The reason for that is that I have been so engaged with making peace with my own diminishments.

Nancy Shinn

I find that I am drawn to more times of silence and the graces of the Forest Dweller journey continue to emerge when I least expect them. My awareness of the presence of God in people and nature is richer and deeper and often I just gaze on what surrounds me with eyes or intentional love and gratitude. I am learning to hold all things lightly. I have grown in my capacity to let go.

Anne Munley

Core Faculty & Invited Speakers

Our 2025-2026 core faculty and invited speakers help forest dwellers dive deeply into the spirituality of aging.

Ronald-Rolheiser
Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI

is a Roman Catholic priest, member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and former president of Oblate School of Theology. Rolheiser is a theologian, professor, and award-winning author. He co-created the ground-breaking program Forest Dwelling: Spirituality for our Wisdom Years as an invitation for learning, growth and inner transformation for those in the autumn and winter of life.

DSC_4147
Emmett Gonzalez

is the Program Manager for the Forest Dwelling Program. He is a “Jack of All Trades” with experience in healthcare, education, and animal behavior. Emmett oversees the administrative and technical aspects of the Forest Dwelling Program and is happy to assist you with any Forest Dwelling needs.

Mary C Earle
Rev. Mary Earle

is an Episcopal priest, author, poet, retreat Leader and Spiritual Director. Rev Earle offers presentations and retreats in a variety of ecumenical settings. She teaches wisdom from the Celtic Christian tradition, using poetry, scripture and insights gleaned from her deep understanding of the mature spirituality of an elder.

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Maggie Meigs, Ph.D.

is the Director of the Forest Dwelling Program, and a former Elder Circle Leader. She is a Spiritual Director, and a retired Clinical Psychologist and US Air Force Colonel. Dr Meigs is devoted to helping others experience healing and transformation in their wisdom years through a compassionate embracing of the “little self / ego” and an increasing reliance on the Presence and Mystery of the Divine.

Cliff Knighten - OST
Cliff Knighten, Ph.D.

is Asst. Professor of Spirituality at Oblate School of Theology. He is a co-founder of the Forest Dwelling Program. Dr Knighten’s primary research interests are the impact of modern secularity on contemporary spiritual practice, mysticism, embodied spirituality, and the application of Buddhist mindfulness practice in the context of Christian contemplation.

Dr. Marilyn McEntyre
Marilyn McEntyre, Ph.D.

is a faculty member for Western Seminary’s “Sacred Art of Writing” Doctor of Ministry program. She has worked with the Center on Aging at U.C. Berkeley. Dr. McEntyre's writing and teaching focus on spirituality, reading, writing, and healing. She also works as a writing coach, and offers spiritual retreats and writing workshops.

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Orion Gonzalez

is a German Shepherd who was trained for 2 years and 4 months by Service Dog World in Chappell, Nebraska to assist Emmett as his task trained service dog.

For More Information:

Forest Dwelling Program
210.341.1366 Ext. 320
forestdwelling@ost.edu