Moments from the Lodge

When my husband Bryan asked if we could wake early for morning prayer at Laity Lodge, I hesitated. It was optional, after all. But it was his first retreat in the Canyon, and he wanted the full experience. So, we went. 

The Great Hall was hushed when we entered. Coffee mug in one hand, prayer book in the other, I settled into the silence. Liturgical prayer isn’t my background—I grew up in Baptist church after Baptist church—so the printed, structured words felt strange to me. But Bryan, who was raised going to Catholic mass, found them familiar. I heard the ease in his voice as he joined in with Executive Director of Laity Lodge Steven Purcell, who was leading that morning. 

I didn’t expect much, but as the group spoke the prayers aloud together, something shifted. The words sank in. Together we named who God is and remembered what God has done for us. My voice blended with Bryan’s and the others, and suddenly the whole room felt like one body. 

It was more than just reading a prescribed prayer. It was sharing our faith in a way that reached across our differences. In that moment, I felt closer to God and closer to my husband. The experience gave me a new window into Bryan’s story of faith—and a deeper connection in our own. 

I’ve been going to Laity Lodge for years, but this past June brought a retreat that included an unforgettable evening—the kind that marks you for a lifetime.

The retreat was unique in that a Jewish rabbi, Rabbi Shai Held, co-led the weekend alongside Ellen Davis, a well-known biblical scholar from Duke University.

That Friday night, musicians Jozef Luptak and Bethany Danel Brooks began the evening with a few pieces on cello and piano. From there, Davis and Rabbi Held opened a dialogue, and Davis read “Dead Men’s Praise,” a poem by Jacqueline Osherow that wrestles with a difficult psalm in the context of Auschwitz and the Jewish people’s suffering.

After the reading, Rabbi Held spoke. He shared personal stories of what it was like to grow up Jewish in a Christian culture, especially in light of the horrors of the twentieth century. His words were raw, challenging, vulnerable. They left us riveted—a little undone, honestly—and unsure what to do next.

Then Rabbi Held and Davis sat down, and Jozef stepped forward with his cello. Jozef told us about his homeland of Slovakia, and how its government played a central role in what happened to the Jewish people in the 1930s and 40s. It was devastating to hear. Then, remarkably, Jozef apologized. It was bold to apologize on behalf of a country, yet it felt humble and genuine. Rabbi Held had gone to a difficult place, for himself and for us. Jozef met him there and, in doing so, somehow brought us along with him. Jozef and Bethany closed with “Spiegel im Spiegel” (Mirrors in the Mirror), and the sadness and beauty of the room and the music came together in what I can only describe as a holy moment.

I’ve rarely experienced anything quite like it. It was the best of what Laity Lodge offers: not just the dialogue, or the music, or the setting, but all of it coming together to create a sacred moment. We all hope for and need points in our spiritual journeys like that night, moments we can remember, and feel, and query, for the rest of our lives.

Massey attended “Visions of the Good Life” in 2025.

Beth Avila

Beth Avila works as the staff writer for the H. E. Butt Foundation. She assists with writing copy for external and internal communications for the Foundation and writes and edits stories and features for Echoes magazine.