You are here
Coming home to God
I’ve twice had the opportunity to introduce some Salvation Army officers to the experience of taking a directed spiritual retreat this year. For most of those taking part, this was an entirely new experience that differed from other events such as an officer fellowship or leadership weekends.
The structure allowed for each participant to go on their own journey with God over the course of the week, yet also provided daily group connection and input. These retreats got a unanimous ‘thumbs up’, providing vital tools and defining moments for ongoing spiritual growth which continue to be worked out in the rigours of regular daily life.
I was in my first appointment as an officer in the early 1990s when I took my first retreat. It was offered by Spiritual Growth Ministries, an ecumenical network that offers a variety of opportunities to explore Christian contemplative spirituality. This ‘Pathways to Prayer’ retreat was just for a weekend, yet that introductory experience got me started and I’ve taken various other retreats since then.
Some people take an annual retreat as part of their regular pattern of spiritual practices. I haven’t been able to achieve this, but from time to time I’ve become aware of a retreat opportunity and an ‘inner-nudge’ told me I needed to be there. Inevitably, this time has been a means of God revealing something to me that I would likely have missed if I had not been in that place of intentionally taking time aside from the everyday routine of life.
In her book Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, author Ruth Haley Barton says, ‘Times of extended retreat give us a chance to come home to ourselves in God’s presence and to bring the realities of our life to God in utter privacy. This is important for us and for those we serve … On retreat, we rest in God and wait on him to do what’s needed. Eventually we return to the battle with fresh energy and keener insight.’
I wonder what the idea of ‘coming home to ourselves in God’s presence’ conjures up in your mind? The pace of life and its demands these days can certainly leave us feeling fractured, distracted or simply worn out. Maybe for a while we can get away with responding on autopilot and appearing to get through, but a closer look within ourselves reveals the true state of affairs. Our inner resources are depleted and we’re running on empty. That is not God’s design for us.
So, a time of extended retreat gives us a chance to come home to ourselves and bring God to the realities of our lives. No more keeping up appearances. We open ourselves up to God, do a stocktake and take some corrective action. In coming home to ourselves and to God, we can rediscover the life that God wants for us, which is usually markedly different to the patterns we’ve fallen into. A quiet revolution begins within us as we surrender to the process of resting in God and waiting on him to do what’s needed.
But we cannot live constantly in this place of retreat—as appealing as that may seem! It’s simply one of the rhythms that must mark our lives if we want to grow roots that are deep in God. The pattern we read about in the life of Christ was one of regularly withdrawing to a solitary place to pray. We especially see this in the gospels at the end of an exhausting day of ministry with unrelenting crowds, or when the increasing opposition was heating up. It was a massive adjustment for Christ to take on human form and come to earth as he did. What Jesus encountered broke his heart and tired him out. If Christ needed regular times of withdrawal, prayer and solitude, how ridiculous for us to think that we can sustain ourselves spiritually without similar patterns.
While refreshment is a welcome by-product of our times of prayer or retreat, there’s something far greater that we can enjoy. By withdrawing to spend time with God—whether on an extended retreat or in our regular periods of prayer each day—we develop a personal connection with God that it is strong and deep. This vital relationship becomes the centre of our lives. It’s in the solitary place that we meet God and God meets with us. This is a time of interchange: God’s life infusing our life, his wisdom shaping our wisdom, his love increasing our love.
* Thinking of taking a spiritual retreat? Spiritual Growth Ministries will shortly be posting their 2015 programme on www.sgm.org.nz
Major Heather Rodwell is Territorial Secretary for Spiritual Life Development for The Salvation Army New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Territory. p: (04) 384 56498, e: heather_rodwell@nzf.salvationarmy.org
by Heather Rodwell (c) 'War Cry' magazine, 1 November 2014, pp11.
You can read 'War Cry' at your nearest Salvation Army church or centre, or subscribe through Salvationist Resources.