Retreating from life

RETREAT

 The act or process of moving back or away, especially from something hazardous, formidable, or unpleasant 

Once a year I go on retreat. A chance to step back from a busy, hectic and sometimes hazardous existence that is my day to day life. A few days in which I can stop and eradicate everything that  normally surrounds me and find what is truly important. I can listen to the silence, find God and in turn find myself again.

We are so busy rushing to obtain ourselves in a secular existence. We leap from task to task, aspiration to aspiration, possession to possession looking for love and satisfaction. Each year I return from my retreat resolved not to let these things take over my life again. However surely as the day will begin, they creep in without me even noticing. It is not until I stop, remove everything and listen again,do I realise how much I have been overpowered by my own desires, wants and needs. 

When we remove ourselves from what we perceive to be our comforts and crutches, it is only then that we realise that they are in fact the things that are causing us to struggle in the first place. I have not been on retreat yet this year. Lent is however in itself a mini retreat of kinds. It serves as a small reminder to oneself that all we perceive as necessary, is not. It is a time to pause and assess what we are dependent on and how that affects our faith and trust in God.

There is so much surrounding us that appeals to our impulsive and petulant desires, more so than perhaps in any other generation. There is food, clothing, technology, possessions and sexual pleasure in plentiful quantities all around us and they are all so easy to acquire. Things that were once taboos are freely available over counters and monetary restrictions on what were once perceived as luxuries are now considered measures for poverty. They are all distractions and temptations, they all take away from the simplicity of life and a faith in God. They are not necessary.

When you go on retreat, you remove free and easy access to communication (with any luck). You have a simple and basic room and basic food. All the immediate pleasures and pressures of modern life removed. When you remove all temptation and when I say temptation I do not mean necessarily a big evil thing, I mean the small distractions that take God out of our sights. When you remove these you can see clearly the overwhelming and overpowering love of God. You realise that all your hopes, ambitions and desires are not needed to be loved, to exist and to live. In fact they stop you in your tracks and send you down a long and empty journey where love is always on the next step, achievement round the next  corner and acceptance over the next mountain. In reality you have achieved, you are accepted and above anything else you are loved just as you are now.

I appreciate that in busy lives we do not always feel that we can take a few days to remove all of these things from our lives (though I if you can, give it a go). I often find that when life feels to much and I need to retreat from all around me sooner than I can get away. A small time in Church is often the answer, a mini retreat if you like. There is nothing more rewarding than spending a few minutes in still silence, listening and finding a grounding in your faith again. Finding God's peace and place in our lives. 

At the waking and closing of each day I hope that God is centre of my life. That I have not been distracted by the commotion around me.  At the close of each day, when all is passed I am thankful for all the times when I have been distracted that God has reminded me that he is there. That he loves and forgives all the has been and all that shall be.