What do you do when you’ve spent an evening healing everyone in town? If you’re Jesus, you try to get out of Dodge, at least for a little while: In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. (This week's gospel reading is here.)
I would probably want to sleep in – but there are better ways to nurture your spirit, as Jesus knew. After an intense period of spiritual output, and sometimes after hearing bad news, he would head off for a time of quiet prayer, by himself or with some or all of the Twelve. These mini-retreats were often interrupted, but that didn’t stop him from going.
I am lousy at the spiritual practice of retreat, at least in its multi-day form, though in my In younger days I went somewhat regularly on retreat to convents or monasteries. What Jesus models here is the value of taking time apart for prayer, no matter how long it is. He knows he has another busy day of ministry ahead, so he gets up while it’s still dark to grab some alone time with his heavenly Father. That’s what prayer is – a time of conversation with God, and we don’t need five days away to do that.
We might think about retreats in smaller chunks. Even four hours off the treadmill of our lives can be surprisingly refreshing. How about building an hour of retreat into your week? Choose a day when you’re not too busy, and a spot where you can be alone and quiet. Make a date with yourself and with God, and show up. Light a candle. Read some Scripture and chew on it inwardly. Read a spiritual book. Talk to God about what’s on your mind. Try to get centered and silent and hear what God might be saying back. Write in a journal about what happens as you pray, what your hopes and intentions for the next week might be. Our spirits can get some deep nurture in a time apart like that.
We can even go with smaller increments. Just as a half-hour of exercise can be valuable even in 10-minute increments, so can stepping into “God-space” for a few minutes once a day or more. Some people set alerts on their computers or phones to cue them to go into quiet for an period of time.
Yet such shorter times are no replacement for intentional, multi-day retreats. Retreat is one the most rewarding spiritual practices in our Christian tradition; there are things that we can only hear and receive when we’ve stepped out of our regular lives for several days. It takes time for our spirits to rest, get in touch with what’s going on, and become receptive to a deeper connection with the Holy Spirit. As I write this, I realize be more intentional about daily and weekly retreat times. (Happily, I’m about to move into a house on the water – every day will feel like a retreat!)
When we just give and give without taking the time to recharge our spiritual batteries, to reconnect with the One whose life we are sharing with the world, we soon find ourselves with little to offer, tiring more quickly, becoming easily irritated. When we follow Jesus into the places apart, we can be pretty sure he’ll meet us there with his peace. We will be renewed.
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