A spiritual retreat is a sacred set apart place of love and intimacy with God, self, and others. Where you can drop into a space within, where there is a quality of consciousness, that our hearts long for.
Retreating in a group or as an individual is a gift. A gift of homecoming. A place to re-find your lost self. Something inside has the freedom to shimmer again.
As TS Elliot said:
We will find our way back to the beginning and
know it for the first time. T.S. Elliot
In retreating, you will experience the welcoming of peace that surpasses all other things in life, even if life is full of struggle and you are facing into suffering.
Coming open and receptive to hear, see, touch, taste, and smell in quietness and confidence invites an interior rest. Often you will sleep deeply, soundly, and long.
It is like the Divine in you meets the
Divine everywhere afresh.
There is a bowing down in humility and trust.
Here in retreat, you will allow your desiring, your yearning to be fully known and heard by yourself and others and God.
Retreat to become still and know
It is a place to become ‘still’ and to ‘know.’ This is a place to know union that has never been taken away, can never be lost even though it’s felt like that.
Union of being in fullness and LOVE.
On retreat you may see your black and white thinking, you’re stuck places and also the way through to something new.
There is a rhythm to a retreat.
A retreat is a gentle yet often disturbing experience in the first few days.
Inside of the retreat, you may meet yourself in new ways and God in new ways, this is both loving and inspiring and can also be unsettling.
There will be whispers of divine integration, inspiration and often fun, and laughter. The Holy Fool may present you with what seems a ridiculous possibility.
God wants you, loves you, and desires with you to sense Presence directly. To feel the touch, and to embody essence that lasts a lifetime, that transforms and deepens your reality of truth.
Guiding Wisdom
On retreat, there is time to receive guiding wisdom in the heart and mind, healing in the body, and at times, there will be experiences of fear. Fear of new things, of letting go.
In these times, you are re-creating your story and remembering, letting go and making new.
This can be like being in a boat without oars.
This is because we cannot solve our problems, our stuck places with the same mind.
We need to develop a contemplative heart to be able to emerge in virgin form. A place where we can join St Paul and say: ‘it’s no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me.’
Inner Sanctuary
Retreats are a place and time to develop your inner sanctuary.
A place where we are not trying hard to meet anyone’s approval. It is a place where God and your soul can be in union, in peace, in transformation, and love. It is a place to be in the flow, to step into the unknown and to let go.
Come away and experience the unforced rhythms of grace.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?
Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.
I’ll show you how to take a real rest.
Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30 The Message
We can take one day, two days, or five or more days to retreat.
There is a Spiritual Director here at Peacemakers that can be met with on a daily basis where you can be heard and seen, where you can explore what is happening in a safe and creative environment.
Susannah Connolly
Learn more about Susannah here
Photo by Alex Blăjan on Unsplash