Spiritual Formation 09: Retreat

Silent Retreat:

Part of the requirements for my Spiritual Formation Class was to take a Spiritual {Silent} Retreat, and then we are to add the event to our Journal.

I went to my "normal" spot near Bass Lake. I hiked up the trails, along the water. I wish that my retreat could have been near the Ocean, but the mountains are too shabby. There isn't a ton to report regarding this event. I began by appreciate the beauty of God's creation. By "appreciate" I mean that I actually told God "Thank You" over and over for many specific things that I saw. I felt that a generalized, catch-all "thank you" would be way too shallow. So, for the birds and the sounds that they made I said, "Wow, thanks". For the Water, I was thankful for its beauty and the sounds that it made, and then I was grateful for its life-giving qualities. I made notes of the things for which I was grateful (I've since lost the notes). I went on and on like this for a long time. I was reminded of several scripture verses about thankfulness – "in everything give thanks" and references that I found in the Psalms. My thankfulness began to turn into praise and worship. Then I began to sing songs. This went on for a long time as I walked and paid close attention to God's creation.

Additionally, I took time to make confessions to God about my own life. I noted this as an interesting chronology; after I spent a great amount of time praising and thanking God, I realized my own smallness in comparison to God. I didn't focus on my smallness as a woe-is-me type of realization. Rather, I felt quite secure in God. My smallness was in stark contrast to God's otherness, and that turned into a focus on my own needs. I was acutely aware that the only real changes in my life could happen because of God. I was very aware of my own powerlessness to forgive my own sin or to save my own soul. I also was quite aware that I wanted God's help concerning difficult things/decisions to be made. I was aware that the best thing for my children would be for me to have God's insight into their lives and their needs. So, I asked God for help and insight and wisdom and strength and so on. The same for my wife – The same for myself.

This was basically my retreat. I enjoyed my time. I didn't feel like I had some earth-shaking revelation, but as I said, I did enjoy the time away fully focused on God, His creation and His works in my life.