Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Retreat yourself!

Had the great delight of a time away on retreat last week simply to rest, read the Scriptures and to pray about all the things on the heart. It is something I recommend to anyone, if possible, once a year. It's a case of prioritizing it, perhaps asking another (wife does it one time,and husband takes the next, or family friends) to look after the children, scheduling it, and booking it in, nothing too spiritual about that just a matter of seeing its importance and choosing to do it. Of course, if you've not got children and/or if you're single this is something easier for you to work into an annual routine. The time was certainly rewarding even if merely for the fruit of 'stopping' for a moment and sensing your body's response to just catch up on rest. The wonder of the time for me was knowing that all of the time set aside for that 48 hours was to rest, pray, and read. What I mean is that it was fantastic to know that I wasn't not doing something else, or skipping on another responsibility in order to 'seize' some time with God, that was precisely what ALL that time was for. Many of the spiritual disciplines that marked notable men and women of God of the past can be embraced on a retreat in a way that becomes seemingly impossible in the hustle and bustle of the 21st Century hectic lifestyle. Solitude, silence, fasting, biblical meditation and other 'disciplines' are more than achievable for a short space of time. If there is the slightest chance of you embarking on an opportunity as that which I've described I would certainly say retreat yourself. Simon

2 comments:

Monica said...

Hi Simon!
I definitely agree on the importance of having a selected time frame for devoting solely for Christ. And if you do not go somewhere like a retreat it is almost impossible to ignore all the impending demands of this culture.
I wanted to do this in June but it did not happen. I have a three day weekend coming up, and I am planning on grabbing this time up for a spiritual retreat!

Monica

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