Silent Retreat? Is that even Christian?

“Oh my goodness, are you getting into that Buddhist stuff? Being swooped up into “New Age” practices?”

“I already have a quiet time.. why would I need more than that?” 

“Silence? You can’t talk. That’s weird. You’re going to be there with a group of people and you’re not going to talk to each other? Then why not just go alone?”

“There’s so much work to be done. Christians can’t just stay on the mountain. There are lost people all around us. The poor and needy in our community and the church. Meals to be made, bible studies to run. That’s so selfish. What if you do this and you like it and all you ever want to do is run off on retreat? That’s not what we’re here for."

You may have seen our recent invitation to the Fall Silent Retreat and you’re wondering, “What in the world is a ‘Silent’ Retreat?”  You may get a shiver of fear up your spine, wondering if we have gone off the deep end, sucked up into the current trend towards pagan practices of becoming “one with the universe”. 

Maybe you’re thinking, “I know what retreat is. I love retreats. Is that what we’re talking about here? What’s the theme for the weekend? Who’s the speaker? What’s the schedule?”

No schedule. No speaker. Just you and Jesus. 

“Oh my goodness, the whole weekend?  What will I do with that much time? What if it’s awkward? What if I’m bored? That could get really uncomfortable. Claustrophobic. If I can’t talk to the others what if I have to walk by them with our eyes to the ground?

Imaginations of sitting cross-legged with palms up in the lotus position chanting. “Omg. What if it’s that?  Sounds scary. Forget the whole thing. Close the email. No, thank you! Let’s just keep moving here.”

I understand! I felt the same way. I wouldn’t have done it myself except the instructors of the year-long class I was taking encouraged any of us that could, to come to the 4-day Silent Retreat.

I thought I’d give it a try. I had been enjoying Days alone with God (DAWG days) for a number of years and thought it would be similar.  I would take my bible and notebook and spend hours with God in the Word. One scripture would lead to another. I would take walks, bring my earbuds, and listen to music. Time away for myself? Just that, felt like a dream come true. 

God had something way better ❤️ . I got to the Center with my bulging book bag, checked in, cool and collected, everything moving along as planned. Got to my room, got settled, pulled out my bible and notebook and thought I’d start with a little time sitting in the rocker.  You know, a good rocker is like lighting a candle, a sure way to get into that wonderful, spirit mode :)

That’s when it happened.  The Lord took over.  My agenda melted away and I felt the Spirit nudging. Instead of going to the scripture passage that went with my bible study assignment, the Spirit nudged, “Go to the Song of Solomon, chapter 1.” God kept me in Song of Solomon, immersed in His living words of love for me, all weekend.

So many tears.  I’m shaking my head even now as I remember it. His presence so strong in the room. My love for Him stirred deeper than it had been in 30+ years since I first came to know him. Daily sessions with a spiritual director where all I did was read her passages from Song of Solomon and cry at the love I felt from God and my heart overflowing with love for Him. 

Time, 4 Days, like I’d never had before, just for He and I. 

When it was all said and done, on my 3 hour drive home, more tears and no way to put into words what I’d experienced.  Feeling that these times away with Him were something He had intended all along. I never wanted to be without them again.  

There was power in the silence. 

There was power in being there with a group even though we didn’t talk to each other hardly at all. You could feel love bonding us together. We supported each other in the most important part of our existence, our individual relationships with God, in prayer. 

When you look at scripture with fresh eyes you see it. Jesus’ example; never-ending needs all around him. People to be healed. Words of salvation to bring. Three short years of ministry. A world to reach and yet amidst all of it little phrases, “and he slipped away before dawn to be with his Father.” “I must have time with my Father.” Going up on the mountain of transfiguration for days. 40 days in the desert.

In all my years of taking time away with God, I have always been afraid if I tasted something that good, I wouldn’t come back to the world again. But we don’t stay there. We don’t build a tent-like Peter wanted to do on the mountain of Transfiguration.  We come back down filled with the living God to do the work He has given us.   

I have found the question isn’t as much of whether we will come down from the mountain, but rather, why don’t we ever go in the first place? Why don’t we take these extended times away with the Father? 

The danger for us is not in getting lost in taking too much time like this, but not taking any at all. 

God has so much He wants to pour out on us. So much He wants to reveal to us. Individual instructions for the life and calling He has given us and filling in the exact ways that we need.  He needs time with us to do that and waits to see if we will come.  

I remember having the family over for Sunday lunch after I’d returned from a silent retreat. Taking a walk, sharing with my daughter-in-law about the retreat she said something like, “It seems these retreats are like a drug where you go away for a “hit" and then come back to regular life. Then go back a while later for another “hit”, a high to keep you going until the next time?” 

I said to her, “Yes, I can understand why it seems that way. But even more than that, I think this is how God intended for His children to live. We see it in Jesus’ life regularly slipping away to have time with the Father. We do our regular work and get by with our daily quiet times, weekly church, and bible study. And that’s all good. But then there comes a time, kind of like in a marriage, where you just need to get away together for longer and fall in love again. Above everything else, it’s the essence of what our relationship with God is all about.”

A year or two later she came to a DAWG (Day Alone with God) at the Sanctuary. Coming into the house before she headed home she had to tell us about her time. She brought her bible and notebook thinking she knew exactly how things would go. Finding a spot next to the creek she plopped her chair down. And God showed up. All around her, the trees lit up, the sunshine glistened with a divine imminence on the water. Over the next few hours, God ministered, flooding her with His presence and living words.

“I get it!” she said, “I get it!” 

Silent Retreat is like that, multiplied by 1000.

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I wonder, “What is God saying to your heart right now?”