Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Day #431

March 7, 2015

Church Council Retreat. While I was pondering over what to say about our time together and its relation to the intersection of faith and life, I landed on the word retreat. Interesting word choice for spending some intentional time with a church council. After all, isn’t retreat what one does to get away from some danger?

With that question in mind, I looked it up. One definition of the verb retreat is just that, to withdraw from enemy forces or to remove oneself from a difficult or uncomfortable situation. Another is to withdraw to a quiet or secluded place. Ah, that seems a better focus. But then there is also to become smaller in size, or to change one’s decisions as a result of criticism, or to decline in value (think shares of stock). Then there is the noun definition of retreat. The one that resonated for me: a period of seclusion for the purposes of prayer and meditation.

Ok, maybe retreat is what we did, in a positive way. For we spent our extended time together dreaming, talking, sharing, getting to know one another better, and planning ahead. And we did pray.

It proved to be a fruitful time. Three areas of focus bubbled-up for us to be intentional about for the rest of our year of working together, so I am excited to discover where and how God will lead us from here. All in all, it was a good time of retreat!

Blessings.

1 comment:

  1. Glad to read that you had a successful retreat... your deliberate exploration of that very word is interesting. Yesterday, in our Circle meeting, we were coached by the program leader to close our eyes and retreat into oursleves, visualizing our loving God holding us. We were instructed to simply rest there and to open the "ears" of our hearts. It was awkward at first, but soon it became very comforting and all-encompassing. I was amazed at what "bubbled up", as you described at your own retreat; people and circumstances that were subjects for intentional prayer. I'm planning on retreating this way more often! Blessings to you too!

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