"SPIRITUAL RETREATS FOR BUSY PEOPLE"


Last weekend, we held one of our 24 hour “ Spiritual Retreats For Busy People.” Eight people are invited to come away to a comfortable “cabin” (home is more like it!) in the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains, just five miles from Bear Valley Ski Resort, “to meet God anew, deepen their relationship with Him, and get to know one another in new ways.” Carolyn Ahlem and I are the facilitators for this spiritual renewal experience, and once again we had an enriching time with all those who attended.

The format of our retreat is simple: three times of group prayer and worship, based on the Taize style and order of service, considerable opportunity alone to connect with God through spiritual disciplines or however one wants to do it, fellowshiping with one another at meals (and on the deck each evening, with cheese, fruit, and assorted beverages!), and overall trying not to over-organize, over-schedule, and over-structure anything during these 24 hours. Peace, rest, reflection, prayer, stillness, space, silence--this is what we hope people will experience, once they are able to leave the stress and busy-ness of everyday life behind and retreat to this exquisite spot in the pine-scented mountains.

Once again, a marvelous time was had by all! Everyone quickly settled in and settled down on Friday evening when they arrived. The deck was ready with chairs, food and drink, and a spectacular welcoming view, which helped everyone to relax and begin the retreat experience.


Conversation flowed easily, and new relationships began to emerge almost immediately. Following a simple supper of soup, bread, and fruit, we gathered for a brief overview of the retreat and for our first Taize service:

two opening songs
responsorial psalm
Scripture reading
song
Scripture reading
preparation for prayer (Taize chant - silence)
prayers (of adoration and intercession)
Lord’s Prayer

After this, everyone was on their own. Most wanted ice cream for dessert! Several stayed up to watch a DVD, “Faith Like Potatoes.” Others chatted for awhile, then headed for bed. Quiet descended on the cabin, and a brilliant almost-full moon lit up the sky all night long.

As I said, we try not to have any agenda or firm schedule on the retreat, so people woke up and got moving at different times in the morning. We did manage to eat breakfast altogether, then we had our second Taize service, this time experiencing lectio divina as part of our prayer time.


The rest of the day was wide open. Here is the way our retreat brochure describes it:

Morning food for body
Morning food for soul
Open Space #1
Lunch
Open Space #2
Open Space #3
Supper
Closing Service
Return Home

However, no one ever really sticks to the schedule!

For the open spaces, Carolyn and I do provide six suggestions and materials for spiritual growth, insight, and deepening: 1. Creativity - using paper, pens, paints, crayons, clay, etc. to express oneself to God and to respond to Him “creatively” 2. Devotional Resources/Bible Reading - spending time in the classics of devotional literature (My Utmost, Cloud Of Unknowing, With Christ In the School Of Prayer; Julian Of Norwich, Thomas Merton, St. John Of the Cross, etc.) and in reading Scripture (an entire book of the Bible all at once--perhaps for the first time ever!) 3. “Holy Napping” - for people who are sleep-deprived, just resting or sleeping may be the best way to find release and inner peace 4. Journaling - writing out one’s honest questions and current reality, doing a spiritual inventory or spiritual history, writing a letter back to Paul after reading one of his as if it was a personal letter to you 5. Prayer - practicing the four general areas of prayer, journaling one’s prayers, lectio divina, using the church prayer teams’ monthly prayer focus areas, praying for the Persecuted Church 6. Spiritual Life Nature Walk - this is everyone’s favorite, including Carolyn’s and mine! Let me describe it to you, and offer a sample of the stations:

Several years ago we went out in the woods and spent an entire afternoon walking, talking, observing, and laying out a special physical path that we then used to create a parallel spiritual path for people to walk. We came up with 12 stations on the mile-long hike. Before each retreat, Carolyn and I spend two hours laying out the physical path by tying pink ribbons to trees, shrubs, brush, branches--anything to help lead people to each of the 12 stations on the journey. The numbers are printed on large pink laminated circles, which are impossible to miss--or, almost impossible to miss (right Sandy?!). We make sure that whenever a person is at one pink ribbon, at least one more is immediately seen--in both directions--so no one can get lost. When each retreatant heads out on the spiritual life nature walk, they are given a “life pack” with instructions on how to proceed along the path. Each person is encouraged to take as long as they want to be on the journey--for it is, indeed, a spiritual journey that they are on, “incarnated” in the beauty of nature that surrounds them. This is where even a tentative schedule like the one above goes completely out the window! One couple last year spent almost the entire day doing the walk! This year everyone was gone for over three hours, and some for considerably longer. The walk is intended to draw people into a reflective place deep inside themselves, and so as time passes, it is easy to become more and more caught up in the beautiful environment and in the spiritual process.

Here are the directions in the “life pack” for one of the stations:

3. Look off to your right or behind you and you will see a clearing; an open space a short distance away. Now go off the path on purpose, and into this clearing for awhile. In our journey through life, we often “get off track.” The world, our society, friends and co-workers, media and advertising, our personal desires and temptations, the reality of evil and sin--all of these and more entice us, captivate us, and try to make us succumb to their influence. Sometimes we yield to temptation, indulge in these offerings, compromise our lives--in short, we “get off the straight and narrow!”

What are you vulnerable to? What temptations do you face that lure you off of the path that God would have you follow? Confess these to the Lord, in your journal or in prayer. Consider ways to resist these influences on your life. Pray for forgiveness. Then get back on the path and resume your journey!

Matthew 7:13-14 (paraphrase) - For the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter it are many.”

Here is one more:


6. Gaze at the huge pine tree. Observe its size, its strength, its power; how it grows straight and tall, upward to the sky. Imagine yourself like this tree. In what ways are you strong and straight? What might be preventing you from reaching upward to your full potential? What would it take for you to live your life in this way?

Jeremiah 17:8 - “He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Psalm 104:16 - “The trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted.”

Isaiah 2:13 - “All the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan.

Everything seems to slow way down as the day goes on. People are quiet, relaxed, almost savoring each second of time as it passes, conscious of every moment. It’s really the way that we’re supposed to go through all of life! I found myself in rich, meaningful conversations and I learned more about each of the people than I ever have before. When everyone came together for the final Taize service, we included time for people to share about what they experienced on the retreat, and it was amazing to hear the profound things that each one absorbed in this time away with God. All of us affirmed the fact that we had grown closer to one another as well, because of being together in this very purposeful way--even for such a short amount of time. This will strengthen our congregation here at home and create deeper friendship and unity in our body. It was fitting that we concluded this service, and the retreat, with the Sacrament of Communion.

That was it. After a meal of lasagna, salad, and bread, these eight individuals--now much more “one” in their relationships with each other--packed up the van and headed for home, arriving back in Hilmar about 11:30 p.m. Everyone commented on how it seemed like the retreat lasted much longer than just one day. That’s what happens when we really focus in on our lives; deeply conscious of our actions, behaviors, relationships, responsibilities--in short, fully aware of LIFE!

If you think that this blogpost is a blatant advertisement for our next 24 hour “Spiritual Retreat For Busy People,” you’re absolutely right! Why should I make apologies for something as wonderful and satisfying as what I’ve just described? We offer an amazing, fantastic, enriching experience for people to connect with God and with each other, just as the brochure says, and Carolyn and I would like all of our congregation, friends, families, acquaintances--everyone--to take full advantage of this opportunity for spiritual growth. Make a note, mark it on your calendar for next summer, and plan to attend. Talk to those who have been on the retreat and hear first-hand how they were impacted by everything that occurred.

What could be more delightful than spending time with the One Who made us and knows us inside out?