My beloved Mt. Tam Church, For forty years, I have taken a week or so each January for a spiritual renewal and sermon preparation retreat. In that week I read, write, envision, and create sermon series for the coming year. It’s always been a gift to me from each congregation that understands that preaching takes time, thought, and reflection. Though I’ve tried many locations, I always find myself back on the Sonoma and Marin coast as the most refreshing location I can find. The past ten years have brought me to the tiny hamlet of Dillon Beach, with a famous dog beach—and not much else! It amazes me that many people born and raised in Marin County don’t know that Dillon Beach exists! I hope to keep it a happy secret. In the meantime, here’s a poem I wrote a few years ago while on retreat which celebrates the gift of this place, the gift of our beautiful county and the gift you give me each year to take time apart for prayer, study, and writing. See you in church on Sunday! Peace,
Pastor Kim
THE GIFTS OF MARIN
No happy hour specials, custom cocktails poured by a mixologist.
No gym, yoga, Pilates or even a bike path.
The only shopping is the local market with spare grocery items (mostly in cans) and a few hats emblazoned “Dillon Beach” and some sad-looking beach toys for parents who forgot. And lots of beer named “light.”
More pick-up trucks than BMWs, which someone told me stands for Basic Marin Wheels.
And it’s still Marin. Of course: Brown rolling mountains reaching down to meet the sea An endless beach, soft with surf and wave. Neighbors chatting at the post office, And the guy at the store has been at my church. AND LOVED IT!
The gifts of retreat. The gifts of Marin.
–Dillon Beach, 2014
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