>>> COMING UP, HOW PEOPLE OF FAITH VOTED IN TUESDAY'S DRAMATIC ELECTION, AND THE ATTEMPTS AT HEALING THAT HAVE FOLLOWED.

ALSO, THE SPIRITUAL ENERGY OF THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN.

IT'S GOOD TO HAVE YOU WITH US THIS POST-ELECTION WEEK.

RELIGIOUS GROUPS ARE AMONG THOSE ASSESSING WHAT HAPPENED ON TUESDAY AND WHAT LIES AHEAD.

WE WILL EXPLORE THIS IN A DISCUSSION COMING UP.

>> AS DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTERS CELEBRATED AND MANY OF HIS STUNNED OPPONENTS WEPT, FAITH LEADERS ACROSS THE SPECTRUM CONGRATULATED HIM ON HIS ELECTION AND PROMISED TO PRAY FOR HIS PRESIDENCY.

MANY ALSO COMMITTED TO HOLDING HIM ACCOUNTABLE ON THEIR PARTICULAR ISSUES.

>> THE DEEP NATIONAL DIVIDES CONFIRMED BY THE ELECTION WERE CLEARLY EVIDENT AMONG FAITH-BASED VOTERS.

EVANGELICALS MADE UP A QUARTER OF THE VOTING PUBLIC AND MANY EXPERTS SAID THEIR OVERWHELMING SUPPORT ENSURED TRUMP'S VICTORY.

ACCORDING TO EXIT POLLS, 81 PERCENT OF WHITE EVANGELICALS VOTED FOR TRUMP, WHILE ONLY 16 PERCENT VOTED FOR HILLARY CLINTON.

52 PERCENT OF CATHOLICS OVERALL VOTED FOR TRUMP, AND 45 PERCENT VOTED FOR CLINTON.

BUT WHEN IT'S BROKEN DOWN BY ETHNICITY, WHILE 60 PERCENT OF WHITE CATHOLICS VOTED FOR TRUMP, NEARLY 70 PERCENT OF LATINO CATHOLICS VOTED FOR CLINTON.

JEWS ALSO GAVE CLINTON OVERWHELMING SUPPORT, AS DID AFRICAN- AMERICANS.

>> AS TRUMP NOW BEGINS ORGANIZING HIS ADMINISTRATION, EVANGELICALS AND CATHOLICS WHO SUPPORTED HIM ARE URGING THE PRESIDENT-ELECT TO KEEP HIS PROMISES ON ISSUES INCLUDING ABORTION, SUPREME COURT JUSTICES AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

>> MEANWHILE, FAITH GROUPS THAT HAD OPPOSED TRUMP SAID THEY WOULD WORK EVEN HARDER TO SUPPORT THEIR VALUES.

MANY OF THEM URGED TRUMP TO ABANDON THE NEGATIVE RHETORIC HE HAD USED ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL, ESPECIALLY AGAINST MUSLIMS, IMMIGRANTS, PEOPLE OF COLOR AND WOMEN.

>> IN SOME PARTS OF THE COUNTRY, THERE HAVE BEEN PROTESTS AGAINST TRUMP'S ELECTION.

GIVEN THE ONGOING LEVEL OF DISTRESS AND DIVISION, MANY RELIGIOUS GROUPS ISSUED NEW CALLS FOR DIALOGUE AND RECONCILIATION.

>> HUNDREDS OF HOUSES OF WORSHIP HAVE BEEN HOLDING SPECIAL POST- ELECTION PRAYER SERVICES.

WASHINGTON'S NATIONAL CATHEDRAL ORGANIZED WHAT IT CALLED A TIME OF PRAYER AND HEALING.

THE EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF WASHINGTON, MARIANN BUDDE, BUDDY URGED PEOPLE TO FIND COMMON GROUND IN ORDER TO MOVE THE NATION FORWARD.

>> THINGS HAVE BEEN SAID AND DONE IN THIS ELECTION CYCLE THAT CANNOT BE EASILY UNSAID OR UNDONE OR FORGOTTEN.

WE STAND WITH THOSE WHO WONDER IF THEY HAVE A PLACE IN SOCIETY.

>> VARIOUS STATES ALSO PASSED BALLOT INITIATIVES IMPORTANT TO FAITH COMMUNITIES.

A NUMBER OF STATES TOUGHENED GUN-CONTROL MEASURES.

IN NEVADA, FOR EXAMPLE, VOTERS APPROVED A MEASURE THAT WILL REQUIRE BACKGROUND CHECKS ON NEARLY ALL GUN SALES AND TRANSFERS.

ARIZONA, COLORADO AND MAINE VOTED FOR PHASING IN $12 MINIMUM HOURLY WAGES BY 2020.

VOTERS IN WASHINGTON STATE RAISED THE MINIMUM WAGE TO $13.50 AN HOUR BY 2020.

MEANWHILE, NEBRASKA VOTED TO REINSTATE THE DEATH PENALTY.

AND COLORADO MADE IT LEGAL FOR PHYSICIANS TO ASSIST A TERMINALLY ILL PERSON IN DYING.

A PANEL OF EXPERTS ON FAITH AND POLITICS GATHERED AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY THIS WEEK TO DISCUSS THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN LIGHT OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT.

>> LET'S REMEMBER, THAT TONIGHT THERE IS A DREAMER WHO WONDERS WHETHER SHE'LL BE IN SCHOOL A YEAR FROM NOW, THERE'S AN EXPECTANT MOTHER WHO WONDERS WHETHER SHE'LL HAVE HEALTH CARE FOR HER AND HER BABY, YES, THERE ARE WORKERS IN THE RUSTBELT WHO WONDER WHETHER THEIR VOICES WILL BE HEARD, AND THERE ARE MUSLIMS WHO WONDER IF AMERICA IS STILL THEIR HOME.

>> JOINING ME NOW FOR MORE ANALYSIS OF THE ELECTION IS OUR MANAGING EDITOR KIM LAWTON AND JEROME&SOCOLOVSKY, EDITOR IN CHIEF OF RELIGION NEWS SERVICE.

>> JEROME, WHAT HAPPENED LAST TUESDAY?

>> WELL, FROM A RELIGION PERSPECTIVE, BOB, DONALD TRUMP CAPTURED 81 PERCENT OF THE WHITE EVANGELICAL VOTE AS YOU JUST MENTIONED.

THAT WAS KEY BECAUSE IF YOU TAKE AWAY THE EVANGELICAL SHARE OF THE VOTE, WHICH IS ABOUT A QUARTER, HILLARY CLINTON WOULD HAVE WON BY A LANDSLIDE.

NOW 81 PERCENT IS SLIGHTLY MORE THAN MITT ROMNEY GOT BUT KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS TIME AROUND THERE WERE SOME EVANGELICAL LEADERS WHO WERE TELLING THEIR FOLLOWERS NOT TO VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP.

>> IT'S WAS A REALLY INTERESTING DEBATE WITHIN THE EVANGELICAL COMMUNITY.

I THINK THERE WERE MORE DEBATES AND DIVISIONS THAN THE 81 PERCENT FIGURE WOULD REALLY INDICATE.

BUT THERE WAS A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT DONALD TRUMP SAID.

THAT WOMEN AND AFRICAN AMERICANS AND IMMIGRANTS AND OTHERS FOUND INSULTING.

AND THERE WAS CONCERN IN THE EVANGELICAL COMMUNITY ABOUT SOME OF HIS, YOU KNOW, HIS MORALITY, HIS BEHAVIOR.

AND PEOPLE WERE SAYING, WELL, IT WAS THE EVANGELICALS WHO WERE CONCERNED DURING THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION ABOUT SOME OF BILL CLINTON'S ACTIVITY, WHY DID DONALD TRUMP NOT HAVE THE SAME CONCERN?

SO IT WAS AN INTERESTING CONVERSATION.

IN THE END A LOT OF THE EVANGELICALS CLEARLY DID VOTE FOR TRUMP, BUT I DON'T THINK IT WAS A REALLY STRONG, ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORT FOR MANY OF THEM.

>> BUT JEROME, ARE THE EVANGELICALS NOW IN A POSITION TO SAY TO PEOPLE IN GOVERNMENT, WE GOT YOU HERE, NOW PAY OFF?

>> THEY ARE NOT ONLY IN A POSITION TO SAY THAT, BUT THEY ARE SAYING IT.

I WAS AT A COUPLE OF PRESS CONFERENCES ON WEDNESDAY HERE IN WASHINGTON WITH SOME OF THE EVANGELICAL POLITICAL FIGURES, WHO WERE SAYING ESSENTIALLY DONALD TRUMP OWES US.

HE HAS TO MAKE GOOD ON HIS PROMISES.

THEY MAY BE EXPECTING DONALD TRUMP TO DO THAT.

I HAVE A FEELING THEY MAY ALSO BE HOPING THAT MIKE PENCE, WHO WAS A CHOICE IN THEIR FAVOR, WILL BE WHISPERING IN THE PRESIDENT'S EAR.

>> IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO WATCH BECAUSE WE'VE SEEN THIS HAPPEN IN THE PAST BEFORE IN OTHER ADMINISTRATIONS WHERE THE EVANGELICALS CAME OUT.

THIS TIME AROUND THERE WAS A BIG MOBILIZATION FROM SOME OF THESE GROUPS.

THE POLITICAL GROUPS REALLY DID A BIG GET OUT THE VOTE PUSH.

BUT IT'S HAPPENED IN THE PAST AND THEN THE ADMINISTRATIONS HAVEN'T NECESSARILY FOLLOWED THROUGH OR DONE EXACTLY WHAT THEY HAD HOPED.

SO IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE IF DONALD TRUMP DOES, ESPECIALLY ON SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT WERE REALLY OF TOP CONCERN FOR THEM, LIKE ABORTION, LIKE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES AND JUDGES, AND EVEN GAY MARRIAGE.

BUT DONALD TRUMP WILL ALSO BE GETTING PRESSURE FROM OTHER QUARTERS AS WELL, SO I'M GOING TO BE WATCHING REALLY CLOSELY TO SEE WHAT HE DOES.

>> HAVE EVANGELICALS DISCOVERED FROM THEIR PAST EXPERIENCE OF THE LAST FEW YEARS THAT GETTING TOO FAR INTO POLITICS CAN BE A BIG PROBLEM?

>> IT CERTAINLY DOES TURN OFF A NUMBER OF PEOPLE.

HOWEVER, THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE THIS TIME AROUND WHO HEARD ANTI-ABORTION MESSAGES FROM THE PULPIT AND THAT INFLUENCED THEIR VOTES.

THERE WERE MANY PEOPLE WHO REALLY VIEWED HILLARY CLINTON AS A QUOTE, UNQUOTE MURDERER.

>> IT'S HARD TO DISCOUNT THE LEVEL OF DISLIKE FOR HILLARY CLINTON IN SOME OF THESE CONSERVATIVE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES.

CONSERVATIVE CATHOLICS AND EVANGELICALS BOTH, WHITE EVANGELICALS, THERE WAS A SENSE OF MISTRUST OF HER.

THEY DIDN'T LIKE HER AND HER ABORTION STANCE AND SOME OF HER OTHER POSITIONS.

THEY JUST HAD THIS REALLY DEEP DISLIKE OF HER, WHICH IS INTERESTING.

>> BUT KIM AND JEROME, THIS IS PART OF, THE EVANGELICAL THING, IS A PART OF A MAYBE BIGGER SWATH OF THE COUNTRY THAT FEELS THAT THE PROSPERITY OF THE LAST FEW YEARS HASN'T COME TO THEM, INDEED HAS HURT THEM.

FACTORIES HAVE CLOSED DOWN AND THEY DON'T HAVE JOBS.

THEY REALLY FEEL LIKE AN ABANDONED MINORITY.

AND SO THE VOTE TUESDAY, EVEN A DEMAND FOR CHANGE.

>> I THINK THERE IS A SENSE OF ALIENATION, ECONOMIC ALIENATION BUT ALSO CULTURAL ALIENATION FOR SOME OF THESE RELIGIOUS CONSERVATIVES FEELING THAT THE BROADER CULTURE DOESN'T SHARE THEIR VALUES ON THINGS LIKE GAY MARRIAGE, ON ABORTION, SOME OF THE OTHER STUFF GOING ON IN POP CULTURE.

THEY FEEL LIKE MAYBE THE GOVERNMENT LEADERS DON'T LISTEN TO THEM, THEY PAY ATTENTION TO OTHER FOLKS BUT NOT TO THEM, AND THEY'RE WORRIED ABOUT THEIR ABILITY TO EXERCISE THEIR RELIGION.

YOU KNOW THIS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY QUESTION THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE TALK ABOUT WAS BIG, SO THERE IS A SENSE OF FEELING LIKE OUTSIDERS.

BUT THERE ARE OTHER GROUPS THAT FEEL LIKE OUTSIDERS WHO ARE NOW WORRIED ABOUT BEING OUTSIDERS IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AS WELL.

MUSLIMS, IMMIGRANTS, AFRICAN AMERICANS AND OTHERS ARE CONCERNED AS WELL, AND I'M HEARING THAT FROM THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY ALSO.

>> I'VE HAD PHONE CALLS AND TALKED TO SEVERAL PEOPLE WHO'VE HAD THE SAME EXPERIENCE, WHICH IS A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE, FOR WHOM THIS MAY HAVE BEEN THEIR FIRST BIG ELECTION, WERE JUST DEVASTATED BECAUSE HILLARY CLINTON DIDN'T MAKE IT.

>> IT DEPENDS WHERE YOU LOOK FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE.

YES, I BELIEVE HILLARY CLINTON GOT THE YOUTH VOTE, OR THE 20- SOMETHING VOTE.

HOWEVER, THERE ARE MANY YOUNG PEOPLE IN RURAL AREAS WHO FEEL LEFT OUT, THEY FEEL LIKE GLOBALIZATION HAS NOT BROUGHT FRUITS TO THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES AND THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM.

>> I'M HEARING FROM SOME OF THESE FOLKS IN THE FAITH COMMUNITY THAT WERE DISAPPOINTED, DEVASTATED, I'M HEARING THEM COMMIT THEMSELVES TO WANTING TO WORK HARDER FOR THEIR VALUES.

MANY OF THEM ARE VERY UPSET BECAUSE THEY HAD SUPPORTED HILLARY CLINTON FOR A LOT OF REASONS.

BUT I AM HEARING A LOT OF THEM SAYING THIS IS GOING TO GALVANIZE US TO WORK FOR THE VALUES WE CARE ABOUT, TO TAKE CARE OF THE MARGINALIZED, TO TAKE CARE OF IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES, TO TAKE CARE OF THE LEAST OF THESE IS LANGUAGE THEY USE.

AND SO I'LL BE WATCHING TO SEE THE EXTENT TO WHICH THEY DO GET INVOLVED.

HOW MUCH OF THIS IS JUST THE EMOTION IMMEDIATELY AFTER AN ELECTION AND HOW MUCH WILL THIS ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO GET INVOLVED.

TO MAKE SURE IN THE FUTURE MAYBE THERE ARE CANDIDATES THEY DO LIKE.

BECAUSE YOU HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT PEOPLE DIDN'T LIKE SO MANY OF THE CANDIDATES.

>> KIM LAWTON, MANY THANKS.

KIM LAWTON OF THIS PROGRAM.

AND JEROME SOCOLOVSKY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF RELIGION NEWS SERVICE.

THANK YOU.

IN OTHER NEWS, PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS SHORTENED THE SENTENCES OF ANOTHER 72 FEDERAL INMATES.

>> ALL TOLD, OBAMA HAS GRANTED 944 PEOPLE CLEMENCY.

THAT'S MORE THAN WERE GRANTED THAN THE PREVIOUS 11 PRESIDENTS COMBINED.

ALMOST ALL OF THE INMATES HAD BEEN CONVICTED OF DRUG-RELATED OFFENSES AND ARE CONSIDERED NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS.

MANY WILL NOT SEE THEIR SENTENCES END IMMEDIATELY BUT IN 2017 OR 2018.

>> MEANWHILE, POPE FRANCIS HELD A SPECIAL MASS IN ST. PETER'S BASILICA FOR 1,000 PRISONERS, TELLING THEM THAT ALL PEOPLE HAVE MADE MISTAKES.

FRANCIS URGED THE PRISONERS TO NEVER GIVE UP HOPE IN GOD'S MERCY.

HE ALSO CALLED ON POLITICAL LEADERS TO IMPROVE JAIL CONDITIONS AND RESPECT THE DIGNITY OF INMATES, OFFERING THEM AMNESTY WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

THE MASS WAS PART OF THE VATICAN'S HOLY YEAR OF MERCY, WHICH ENDS LATER THIS MONTH.

>> POPE FRANCIS ALSO NAMED A MODERATE KNOWN FOR STANDING UP FOR REFUGEES AND NUNS TO BE THE NEXT LEADER OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

JOSEPH TOBIN, CURRENTLY THE ARCHBISHOP OF INDIANAPOLIS, MADE NATIONAL HEADLINES LAST YEAR WHEN HE REFUSED TO STOP CATHOLIC CHARITIES FROM RESETTLING A SYRIAN REFUGEE FAMILY.

HE IS AMONG THE 17 MEN WHO WILL BE MADE CARDINALS IN ROME LATER THIS MONTH.

TOBIN IS REPLACING ARCHBISHOP JOHN MYERS, A CONSERVATIVE CRITICIZED FOR USING HALF A MILLION DOLLARS OF CHURCH MONEY TO RENOVATE HIS WEEKEND HOME.

NEWARK IS ONE OF THE LARGEST DIOCESES IN THE COUNTRY AND ONE OF THE MOST ETHNICALLY DIVERSE.

>> THIS WEEK OF ELATION FOR SOME AND HEARTBREAK FOR OTHERS, WE HAVE A STORY FROM JUDY VALENTE ABOUT THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN, A BEAUTIFUL, RURAL HAVEN WHERE VISITORS SPEAK OF THE SPIRITUAL ENERGY THEY EXPERIENCE WHEN THEY ARE THERE.

>> ARTIST MICHAEL NORTHROP SPENDS MUCH OF HIS DAY PAINTING IN AN OLD BARN-TURNED-STUDIO ON HIS FAMILY'S HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD FARM IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN.

HE SPECIALIZES IN ART FOR HOUSES OF WORSHIP.

A FEW YEARS AGO, NORTHROP, A FORMER MINISTER IN THE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE, SEEN HERE IN SELF-PORTRAITS HE PAINTED, WAS CONFINED TO A WHEEL CHAIR, STRICKEN BY MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, AN ILLNESS HE HAD BATTLED SINCE HIS MID-TWENTIES.

BUT THESE DAYS THERE'S NO TRACE OF THE DISEASE IN HIS BODY A RECOVERY FOR WHICH HIS DOCTORS HAVE NO EXPLANATION.

BUT NORTHROP HAS A THEORY.

>> THIS AREA GAVE ME BOTH THE ENERGY, THE STABILITY, AND COMMUNITY TO SUPPORT THAT HEALING IN A WAY I DON'T BELIEVE I WOULD HAVE HAD ANYWHERE ELSE.

>> THE AREA IS THREE RIVERS, A RURAL COMMUNITY AT THE CONFLUENCE OF THREE WATERWAYS THAT HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH SPIRITUAL ENERGY SINCE NATIVE AMERICANS FIRST SETTLED HERE MANY CENTURIES AGO.

LEGEND HAS IT THAT THE LAND HERE IS CROSSED BY WHAT ARE KNOWN AS "LEY LINES" PLACES WHERE FOR CENTURIES A SPIRITUAL ENERGY HAS SEEMED PALPABLE TO PEOPLE WHO VISIT AND THAT TODAY ARE STILL MARKED ON THE LANDSCAPE BY STONES.

>> WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SPIRIT OF THE LAND IT'S VERY PERSONAL HERE.

IT'S REALLY A PART OF OUR STORY.

THERE'S A SENSE OF A DYNAMIC MOVEMENT OF SPIRIT.

I FEEL A POWER THAT COMES INTO ME AND THAT IS IT'S THRILLING.

IT'S LIKE STEPPING INTO THAT BEAM OF DIVINE POWER.

>> IT'S PERHAPS NOT SURPRISING THAT THREE RIVERS IS HOME TO FIVE MAJOR SPIRITUAL RETREAT CENTERS NESTLED BETWEEN WOODS, WILDFLOWERS, HILLS, AND FIELDS, ALL WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF EACH OTHER.

THERE IS ST. GREGORY'S ABBEY, ONE OF THE FEW EPISCOPAL BENEDICTINE MONASTERIES IN THIS COUNTRY; THE HERMITAGE, FOUNDED BY A MENNONITE PASTOR AND HIS WIFE FOR PEOPLE SEEKING HEALING AND RENEWAL, GILCHRIST, WHICH BILLS ITSELF AS AN ECUMENICAL LAY MONASTERY, THE APPLE FARM COMMUNITY, WHERE PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLORATION, SPECIFICALLY THE IDEAS OF CARL JUNG, IS USED TO DEEPEN THE INNER LIFE, AND THE EARTHSONG PEACE CHAMBER, WHERE NATIVE AMERICAN RITUALS ARE CELEBRATED.

SOME PEOPLE COME TO VISIT THREE RIVERS, THEN STAY A LIFETIME.

NANCY BELL HAD BEEN WORKING IN CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS AS A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL HELPING THE BLIND LIVE INDEPENDENTLY WHEN SHE CAME TO VISIT RELATIVES IN THE AREA.

HER CAR STALLED ON A HILL, AND SHE STOPPED AT A FARMHOUSE TO CALL FOR HELP.

IT WAS THEN, SHE SAYS, SHE HEARD A CALL FROM GOD.

>> IT WAS VERY CLEAR TO ME, AND I JUST HAD THIS VERY PROFOUND SENSE THAT I WAS TO COME HOME AND BUILD A NEST.

>> THAT WAS DECADES AGO.

BELL EVENTUALLY BOUGHT THE FARMHOUSE WHERE SHE HAD STOPPED AND BEGAN RECEIVING SPIRITUAL DIRECTION FROM THE MONKS AT ST. GREGORY'S ABBEY.

SHE WAS INTRODUCED TO THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS MERTON, THE TRAPPIST MONK WHO SPENT THE LAST YEARS OF HIS LIFE LIVING AS A HERMIT ON THE GROUNDS OF HIS ABBEY IN KENTUCKY.

>> AND, OF COURSE, I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT WHAT A HERMIT WAS.

I'M QUAKER.

>> TODAY, BELL DESCRIBES HERSELF AS BOTH A HERMIT AND AN ANCHORITE, SOMEONE COMMITTED TO STAYING IN PLACE IN THIS CASE, THE LAND SHE CALLS A SANCTUARY INFUSED WITH ANCIENT NATIVE AMERICAN WISDOM, AND PRACTICES WHAT SHE CALLS "THE PRESENCE OF GOD."

>> MY HOPE IS THAT EVERY BREATH I TAKE, EVERY STEP IS PRAYER.

YOU KNOW, THERE ARE ONLY THESE TWO HANDS HERE TAKING CARE OF THE ANIMALS.

WORK CAN BE A MEDITATION.

AND SO I TRY TO DO WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE THING TO DO IN THE MOMENT.

BASICALLY I JUST DO SIMPLE, EVERYDAY THINGS.

I GUESS GRATITUDE PROBABLY WOULD BE MY MAJOR PRAYER.

JUST BEING THANKFUL.

>> SHE SPENDS A PORTION OF EACH DAY IN THIS HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD CHICKEN COOP WHICH SHE REBUILT.

SHE SAYS IT REPRESENTS THE STABLE WHERE JESUS WAS BORN.

BELL MANAGES TO SUPPLEMENT HER MODEST INCOME BY DOING HOUSEKEEPING AND GUEST RECEPTION AT ONE OF THE AREA'S RETREAT CENTERS.

>> HAPPY PEOPLE DO WHAT THEIR INNER BEING TELLS THEM TO DO, AND WHEN YOU DO THAT, IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER WHETHER YOU HAVE VERY MUCH MONEY OR ANYTHING.

SO I'VE COME TO THIS LIFE OF FAITH WHERE YOU'RE LIVING IN THE NITTY GRITTY OF IT RATHER THAN TALKING ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW, IN LECTURES.

>> WRITER WILLIAM ALLEN BALTZ WAS AN ACCIDENTAL PILGRIM WHO MOVED FROM CHICAGO TO THREE RIVERS.

WITH ITS LUSH, PEACEFUL SCENERY, HE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GREAT PLACE FOR WRITING, HIKING AND CANOEING.

HE SOON BEGAN MAKING REGULAR VISITS TO THE FIVE RETREAT CENTERS, AND DISCOVERED A NEW SENSE OF THE SACRED.

>> WHEN YOU REALLY OPEN UP, CLEAR YOUR MIND, BUT OPEN IT UP FOR, LET'S SAY, A VOICE INSIDE YOU, THAT'S A VERY SACRED, SPECIAL THING.

>> BALTZ EVENTUALLY WROTE A BOOK CALLED "SPIRITUAL NEXUS," ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES IN THREE RIVERS A PLACE HE SAYS REPRESENTS THE "INTERSECTION OF TIME AND THE TIMELESS."

>> THE ABBEY IS A PLACE WHERE I LEARNED ABOUT "THE RULE OF ST. BENEDICT," TAKING TIME TO BE MINDFUL OF TIME ITSELF.

>> BALTZ WAS RAISED A METHODIST AND LATER JOINED A PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, BUT SAYS SOMETHING WAS MISSING.

HE FELT THE NEED TO GO DEEPER, TO EXPLORE OTHER TRADITIONS SOMETHING HE COULD DO AT THE THREE RIVERS RETREATS.

>> I MET MANY INTERESTING PEOPLE, BUT IN THE END, YOU'RE TAKING THESE STEPS BY YOURSELF.

THIS IS NOW YOUR OWN JOURNEY, AS OPPOSED TO AN INSTITUTIONAL ONE.

>> MANY PEOPLE SEEM TO DISCOVER THREE RIVERS WHILE IN THE THROES OF MID-LIFE DECISIONS.

LYNDA HOLLINGER-JANZEN, A FORMER MENNONITE MISSIONARY, SAYS SHE ARRIVED AT THE RETREAT CENTER KNOWN AS THE HERMITAGE ANGRY, MISSING THE PEOPLE SHE KNEW IN AFRICA, UNCOMFORTABLE WITH AMERICAN CULTURE, AND UNSURE ABOUT HER FUTURE.

HER SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR AT THE HERMITAGE SUGGESTED SHE SPEND SOME TIME ALONE IN A HUT IN THE WOODS ON THE PROPERTY.

>> SO I WENT, AND THERE IN THE WOODS THERE WAS NOTHING.

I WAS SITTING ON THE SWING.

IT WAS A DARK, OVERCAST DAY.

WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

>> HOLLINGER-JANZEN WAS MEDITATING ON THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA.

THEY CALL FOR CREATING MENTAL IMAGES OF PASSAGES FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT.

AN UNEXPECTED IMAGE CAME TO HER IN THAT MOMENT.

>> I LOOKED UP AND I SAW JESUS ON THE CROSS SMILING DOWN AT ME.

AND IT WAS SO AMAZING TO THINK THAT JESUS, IN A TIME OF SUFFERING, COULD SMILE ON SOMEBODY AS UNLOVABLE AS I WAS BEING THE PAST FOUR DAYS.

>> HOLLINGER-JANZEN ENDED UP SETTLING IN A TOWN NOT FAR FROM THREE RIVERS AND NOW VOLUNTEERS AT THE HERMITAGE.

>> IT'S THE ONE PLACE I FEEL AT HOME.

>> NANCY BELL SAYS AN INCREASING NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE ARE FINDING THEIR WAY TO THE AREA.

>> I THINK THERE ARE TREMENDOUS AMOUNTS OF YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAVE THIS CARING FOR THE PLACE THEY LIVE AND FOR THE EARTH, AND THEY WANT TO MAKE THINGS BETTER.

>> ONE OF THEM IS ROB VANDER GIESEEN REITSMA.

HE OFTEN GOES WITH FRIENDS TO THE BENEDICTINE ABBEY AND THE OTHER RETREAT CENTERS.

>> YOUNG PEOPLE IN GENERAL HAVE GROWN UP IN A POSTMODERN SETTING, AND SO THEY KNOW ALL THE CRITIQUES OF MODERNITY.

THEY KNOW ALL THE THINGS THAT WENT WRONG WITH THE PROMISE OF MODERNITY, AND THEY'RE SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS.

I THINK ONE OF THE BIG TAKEAWAYS THAT STUDENTS COME AWAY WITH FROM THESE COMMUNITIES IS THE VALUE OF SILENCE.

CELL PHONES DON'T WORK VERY WELL, AND WHILE THAT'S VERY UNCOMFORTABLE AT LEAST INITIALLY, A LOT OF STUDENTS REALLY AFTER SEVERAL DAYS THEY WILL SAY, "WOW, I FOUND THAT INCREDIBLY VALUABLE."

>> THE FIVE SPIRITUAL CENTERS ARE ALL NOT-FOR-PROFITS THAT ARE SUPPORTED MAINLY THROUGH PRIVATE DONATIONS AND THE FREE-WILL OFFERINGS OF PEOPLE WHO STAY AT THEM.

THEIR CALLING CARD IS THE TESTIMONY OF THOSE WHO SAY THEIR LIVES CHANGED HERE.

PEOPLE LIKE THE ARTIST MICHAEL NORTHROP, WHO SAY THEY THRIVE ON THE TRANQUIL BEAUTY OF THESE SURROUNDINGS WITH THEIR ECHOES OF THE ETERNAL.

FOR "RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY," I'M JUDY VALENTE IN THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN.

>> FINALLY, EVANGELIST BILLY GRAHAM CELEBRATED HIS 98TH BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK.

AND SONGWRITER AND POET LEONARD COHEN DIED ON THURSDAY AT THE AGE OF 82.

COHEN FREQUENTLY INCORPORATED SPIRITUAL THEMES IN HIS MUSIC.

HE CONSIDERED HIMSELF BOTH JEWISH AND BUDDHIST AND HAD LIVED FOR SEVERAL YEARS IN A ZEN MONASTERY.

HIS ANTHEM "HALLELUJAH" HAS BEEN BELOVED FOR DECADES.

THAT'S OUR PROGRAM FOR NOW.

I'M BOB ABERNETHY.

YOU CAN FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK.

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JOIN US AT PBS.ORG/RELIGIONETHICS.

AS WE LEAVE YOU, MORE OF LEONARD COHEN SINGING "HALLELUJAH."