Advance!
My close friend and colleague pokes fun at the word "retreat" for those weekend-or-longer spiritual get-aways. "They are opportunities for growth, re-creation, and rejuvenation, so why do we use a word that means to go backward when we are going forward?" It's a playful argument, and there is a going backwards component to retreats in that we pull away from the "battle-front" of our busy lives and get back to remembering who we are and whose we are. And in the process of going backwards, we do, indeed, advance.
Maybe the backward-naming of such a spiritual practice is because spiritual practice is so counter cultural. We value production, staying busy, and multi tasking. Taking time to be still, reflect, and rest in God's silence is very backward by cultural standards. Another friend has taught me the principle of going slow to go fast. This one does come from the best-business-practice world and places an importance of planning, checking-in, and developing relationships so that our work and problem solving comes from a place of deeper understanding. Going slow, preparing, knowing who we are working with leads to easier conversation and decision making later.
Every Advent (the first season of the church year by which we prepare for the coming of Christ) I take a retreat with some long-time trusted friends. It comes at an otherwise busy time of year, and that's part of why it is such an important event. We spend four days in the wilderness (with comfortable accommodations.) And talk about life, church, and nothing. We eat well and have a fun time. It is a retreat that prepares me for the Christmas-Epiphany-Lent-Easter seasons to come. Usually I walk away with some surprising, unexpected insights.
John the Baptist walked away from the busy Temple-become-marketplace and called the faithful to be transformed; through his mystical, faithful witness he participated in God's coming into the world. How is your spiritual life being Advanced this Advent? Would carving out time for Retreat be just the slowing down, backward momentum to continue God's transforming work in your own life?
We have been through a lot, and have a lot yet to come. This Advent Season accept God's grace of nothing. Do nothing. Read nothing. Sit still in the wilderness and await God's presence. Be open to the way God is calling you to Retreat and Advance.
My close friend and colleague pokes fun at the word "retreat" for those weekend-or-longer spiritual get-aways. "They are opportunities for growth, re-creation, and rejuvenation, so why do we use a word that means to go backward when we are going forward?" It's a playful argument, and there is a going backwards component to retreats in that we pull away from the "battle-front" of our busy lives and get back to remembering who we are and whose we are. And in the process of going backwards, we do, indeed, advance.
Maybe the backward-naming of such a spiritual practice is because spiritual practice is so counter cultural. We value production, staying busy, and multi tasking. Taking time to be still, reflect, and rest in God's silence is very backward by cultural standards. Another friend has taught me the principle of going slow to go fast. This one does come from the best-business-practice world and places an importance of planning, checking-in, and developing relationships so that our work and problem solving comes from a place of deeper understanding. Going slow, preparing, knowing who we are working with leads to easier conversation and decision making later.
Every Advent (the first season of the church year by which we prepare for the coming of Christ) I take a retreat with some long-time trusted friends. It comes at an otherwise busy time of year, and that's part of why it is such an important event. We spend four days in the wilderness (with comfortable accommodations.) And talk about life, church, and nothing. We eat well and have a fun time. It is a retreat that prepares me for the Christmas-Epiphany-Lent-Easter seasons to come. Usually I walk away with some surprising, unexpected insights.
John the Baptist walked away from the busy Temple-become-marketplace and called the faithful to be transformed; through his mystical, faithful witness he participated in God's coming into the world. How is your spiritual life being Advanced this Advent? Would carving out time for Retreat be just the slowing down, backward momentum to continue God's transforming work in your own life?
We have been through a lot, and have a lot yet to come. This Advent Season accept God's grace of nothing. Do nothing. Read nothing. Sit still in the wilderness and await God's presence. Be open to the way God is calling you to Retreat and Advance.
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