Mark 6:31a [Jesus] said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”
“You can’t talk? How can you stand that?” Just watch and see, I wanted to tell my friends. I stood it just fine.
For nine successive spring breaks, I traveled to a retreat centre, where silence was the rule. When I arrived, I shed my watch and took a nap—two things that allowed my body to adapt to a new pace of life. I got up with the sun and slept when I was tired. Meals were announced with an outdoor bell. Nights were silent, save for the owls and frogs.
As an introvert, I need this sort of break, but I suspect it’s something everyone could use—a time to drop down, to listen to the whirring world, to find the rhythm that runs deep within each of our souls.
MOVING FORWARD: When was the last time you went on a retreat, silent or otherwise? Make plans to go on one this autumn or winter.
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