One that has certainly worked for me both before and after that forever dark day of Tuesday, September 11, 2001 is a place called Nazareth.

No, I am not talking about a trip to the troubled Middle East.

Rather, I am proposing you follow me to Nazareth, Michigan where a group of women are working to “promote unity, reconciliation and harmony among those seeking the richness of spirituality in their everyday lives.”

Although these women are Catholic Sisters of St. Joseph, they make it abundantly clear that their 22,000 square foot conference center and 55 acres of woods, meadows, orchids, and wetlands are there for all to enjoy.

And by all, the good Sisters of St. Joseph mean “educational programs, retreats, spiritual direction and celebrations which are faith-based, interdenominational and open to ALL.”

And if you think you’re going to have to drive all over God’s green earth to get to this place called Nazareth, Michigan, please consider that Nazareth is essentially the first suburb east of Kalamazoo. In fact, the many cultural and culinary offerings of downtown Kalamazoo are a short drive west on Gull Road from what is properly known as Transformation SSJ Spirituality Center in Nazareth. But the two are worlds apart because the city center is properly abuzz with human activity whereas the loudest buzz one is likely to hear at the Spirituality Center are vespers in the magnificent Holy Family Chapel.

I know the first time I went there to seek spiritual direction in October 1999 I thought I had somehow slipped through time and space to Medieval Europe.

I had seen the usual sights of modern American life on the drive over on I-94 and then up Sprinkle Road. The usual traffic, congestion, strip malls, fast food emporiums and tributes to lack of imaginative zoning that we have all grown all too accustomed.

And then, as I headed east from Sprinkle Road on Gull, I saw a green road sign announcing that I was entering “Nazareth” and then a short distance later I saw a stately steeple rising from a column of towering pines and surrounded by a most European looking stone fence. I had never imagined something so serenely sublime so close to home, and yet there it was like some Shangri-la beckoning me away from the everyday flow of traffic on Gull Road.

I’ve been going back every month since then not only to seek spiritual direction from Sister Gertrude Mauer, SSJ, but to step away from the world and put my mind and body at ease for a day. These are my monthly, mini-retreats, and they cost me little in time and money, and they pay high interest by returning me to the real world refreshed and ready for whatever.

That was more true than ever when my wife Natalie and I motored on over to Nazareth in the wake of the horrific events of September 11. While I talked to Sister Gertrude, Natalie curled up with a good book in a cozy waiting room, and then we set off to explore those incredible 55 acres the good sisters are always promoting in their brochures.

We found peace as we explored the restored interior spaces and then walked outside past a vineyard and into the wetlands where Sister Ginny Jones offers an array of “Eco-Spiritual” programs throughout the year.

Once when we were there, Natalie walked placidly among a swarm of yellow jackets and got stung on her ankle. But she bore those less lovable of God’s creatures no animosity, and with a little ice, the swelling from the stings went down quickly. In winter, we have seen hawks hunting over the wetland, and just this spring I saw a male Baltimore Oriole bringing food to a basket shaped nest high in a tree.

We have availed ourselves of the chairs that are placed by the bluff overlooking the wetlands, and we have always found the Sisters of St. Joseph to be most warm and welcoming.

And you should know that they offer an incredible variety of programs and services to individuals and groups. In fact, they tell me every time I’m there to spread the word that Transformations isn’t just for religious groups, but especially for companies looking for islands of quiet in which to have their conferences and planning sessions.

As Transformations spokesperson Sally Pearson once told me: “Companies love to have conferences here because the setting is so peaceful, and because we offer everything that a downtown hotel would.”

Indeed, when Natalie and I took our recent walking tour of the recent renovations, we found a tastefully appointed cafeteria that rivaled those in fancy hotels, except this one offered panoramas of pine trees and great expanses of greenery. There were small conference rooms for group discussions, a chapel for prayer and meditation, large assembly rooms for meetings of all sizes, and an overriding sense of peace.

That’s why we go back to Nazareth every month. For the peace and quiet.

Do I recommend you do the same? Oh yes!