Photograph by Lois Huey-Heck
The Season of Bright Sadness
& Times Like These
Online
with Lois Huey-Heck and Murray Groom
Three Wednesdays: starting Ash Wednesday February 18, February 25,
and March 4, 2026
6:45-8:30 pm Pacific Time
“Dust and ashes touch our face” begins the Lenten hymn of the same name by Brian Wren. We are invited to remember that we are both stardust and clay vessels and we will know both joy and sorrow. This season of turning invites us to another re-set. It’s a return to the land of our souls where body and Spirit exist not in opposition or warfare but in sacred symbiosis. In the good company of sages and mystics — those present and gone before—let’s dare to turn toward the gifts of bright sadness and walk into more fullness of being. We’ll listen to ourselves, to each other, and to the sound of silence.
In these first weeks of Lent, we’ll reflect on three traditional practices:
Prayer —justice toward the Holy
Fasting—justice toward self
Almsgiving—justice toward neighbours
This event is the sixth in a series of contemplative online events for “times like these" offered through the partnership of Naramata Centre and Pacific Jubilee.
AGES: 18+
The cost for three sessions via Zoom is $110.00
Register now and receive 20% off listed prices. Offer valid until February 10, 2026.
BURSARY AVAILABLE: The Naramata Centre Heartwood Bursary is available for most programs, based on financial need. If cost is a barrier to participating in this program, please consider applying for the bursary. Click here to apply.
Lois Huey-Heck
seeks to find, participate in, and seed community experiences of deepening into the fullness of our true selves and then asking the discerning question, “What is mine to do?” She values community experiences that help us lean into the long view of Spirit—and the imperative to BE love—as vision and practice equal to the precariousness of our times.
Lois worked at Wood Lake Publishing for 30 years, was a program mentor for the Pacific Jubilee SoulGuiding program, and was director of spiritual nurture at Naramata Centre. Now Lois offers spiritual accompaniment to her multi-generational household (age six to 83) as well as individual spiritual direction and online retreat leadership. Read about Lois’ spiritual accompaniment practice here.
The Reverend Doctor
Murray Groom
is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada. Retired from parish ministry, he now exercises his vocation as a spiritual director/soul guide. He regularly conducts extended retreats into Silence at Bethlehem Centre in Nanaimo and at Naramata Centre in the Okanagan Valley. His prevailing interests include the role of the guide on pilgrimage, the interface of the wild with the tame, the wisdom of global mythologies and the well-being of his family.
When not travelling with his wife Susan, he lives in the South Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island.
Read about Murray’s spiritual accompaniment practice here.