Lenten Holy Solitude retreat 2018

Saul had to be blinded by God for a while to get him to stop persecuting Christians. Saul was on what he thought was a mission for God to end the Christian uprising. But God had other plans for Saul. It took a profound experience of God: being knocked off his horse, temporarily blinded, and Christ’s voice from heaven telling him to stop, before Saul became Paul and became an apostle of Christ. Saul had to be stopped in his tracks before he could see how he was on the wrong path. It is so hard in today’s world to completely unplug. Our little flat things, as Paula Poundstone calls our mobile phones, are taking over. It is way too easy to read a story online, play a game, watch a video, read Facebook or text, rather than have quiet time as we wait in the doctor’s office, let dinner simmer on the stove or put our feet up after a long day at work. Distraction may be the biggest modern sin. It is right up there with “busy.” We are so busy. Busy doing what? Certainly there are family dema

A Post from Rachel Matthews - Gratitude is what I feel for Hagar. I am grateful that she is remembered in our Lenten study today because there are so many women that have experienced alienation, abandonment, and the powerlessness of social structures that support her only as long as it benefits the benefactor. God knows that woman. God cares for that woman. Scripture gives her voice. The Word is powerful. I think about young women who fell in love, may or may not have gotten married, had a child and whose very sense of self was beginning to blossom in the relationship with the other only to find that relationship broken through divorce or betrayal. Her Self then is grows in relationship with bitterness and rejection. Love is a much better partner. Self for women, as I understand women’s development, grows in relation to others as a part of how she is made, in connectivity so what she is connected to impacts the very core of her identity: her family, her partner, her work. Here in this

Dang it. Do I really have to endure myself? I know I want to spend some quiet time alone, but do I really have to be that introspective that I lay myself bare? Can I trudge through Lent some other way? While I may be an introvert, I really don’t enjoy examining my naked soul. Is there some other way to get through Lent? Do I really have to? Can’t I just read another book about Lent? Can’t I just read a bit more scripture? Do I really have to do this, all by myself? What if I don’t like what I see? What if God won’t love me? This week we are reflecting on Solitude and Struggle. Two giants of faith are held up as examples, and yet they both struggled mightily. I am struck by how both Jacob and Antony the Great were physically wrestling with God. Perhaps that is where God needed to meet them. While I don’t think that is where I am most likely to meet God, I do know that there are places where I do indeed wrestle with God regularly. This year I started a spiritual journal that has a W

From Peter Yau, Like most people growing up in the US, the practice of Solitude is a rare concept. I grew up in Hong Kong, one of the world’s most densely populated island in SE Asia (7.4 million people in 400 sq. miles). Everywhere you go, there is a crowd, walking in a typical street pretty much takes no efforts on your own, you are bumped and pushed by others. In order to find sanity and your own space, people learn to focus their attention to one selves, rather than on others. Today’s meditation is on enduring ourselves, how we find quietness in the midst of distractions and craziness.  The following is what I do: Carve out a time and place for solitude. Find a place where you can be alone, or away from distractions. You can turn away from the crowd to find a moment of quietness. Avoid loud music, conversations and taking phone calls. Start bringing your attention to God, His Creation, His Majesty, His Works, giving praise and gratitude to God. Once you have quieted down, focu

From David Bauer: Holy Solitude We learn a variety of ways that help us find solitude: fasting for a set time, changing a daily schedule, time out to be alone. In college I discovered there were times I did my best study by going to the busy student union. In the midst of the hubbub, I found meaningful inner space that helped me focus. In retirement I often get up at 5:00 a.m. to engage in biblical and theological study. I may ask myself: how does this idea or view help me better understand my faith? Why? Ok. Recently. I asked myself, who was King Josiah? (My dad used to talk about his Uncle Josiah who lived in Taylorville). King Josiah was said to be a good king among many who were not good in the time after King David and King Solomon. Yes, people went through the rituals of religion but had little heart or understanding. Selfish and idolatrous behavior was all over the place. Anyway, King Josiah decided to have a fund drive to raise money to repair the temple in Jerusalem. Work

From Betty Hollister... I already admitted the kicking and screaming part, so this week I’ll confess about the silence.  As a widow, I am no stranger to silence.  Anyone who finds himself/herself living alone after 30+ years of sharing space with a spouse and family is well acquainted with that often unwelcome guest, “Silence.”  My love/hate relationship with silence began while my husband was battling cancer and the adverse effects of chemo.  Mornings were fairly normal, but afternoons required quiet for him to nap or rest.  At first only the cats seemed to revel in this downtime.  I can remember calling a friend and just whispering through my sobbing, “I can’t stand the quiet.”  As I look back on these times, I can see that this was the beginning of my reconciliation with God.  I had spent several years mad at God, blaming Him for “taking” my father, my mother and my brother in a very short time span and “letting” my husband’s cancer return.  Maybe it was this vacuum, t

I have to admit that I have not been looking forward to this fast from sound from the moment I read about it. While I am an introvert, needing time to recharge by myself, I also really don’t like extended periods of silence. I often have the TV on around the house, listen to audiobooks and podcasts and amuse myself by watching videos at my desk over the lunch hour. I am going to do my best to avoid all of that today.   In fact, because we had invited some friends to go to the movies this evening, I started my fast from extraneous sounds last night. I felt a bit cheated, not getting to watch the Olympics and the US women win the gold in hockey, but really do they need another viewer? Why does missing something on TV bother me so? We don't have a DVR at home, so when I miss it I usually just end up skipping a show, but maybe I watch too much TV.  Am I way too caught up in other people’s lives and accomplishments? Do I need to watch the news every day? What could I be doing with

from Eric Corbin What a word -- poustinia .  Sounds so fancy, but it's so simple.  As our author (Heidi Haverkamp) tells us, "poustinia in Russian means 'desert,' and in the Orthodox tradition, it also means a small house or room used for solitary prayer."  Not so fancy, huh?  Spending time in solitary prayer in a simple setting seems so easy, but for me, it's anything but easy.  Those who know me will know that I always  have some form of electronics on me.  Right now, I sit in my office with two running computers, two computers that are in sleep mode, a running tablet with the Kindle app open, a cell phone, a smart watch, a Google Home Mini, and two iPads.  (Most of these don't belong to me, but are used in ministry here at the church.)  I love technology, but how does it connect me to God and how does it disconnect me from God?  When I went on a spiritual retreat a year or two ago, I took a much smaller amount of technology with me (I couldn't go

I like to think of myself as a faithful person, but goodness knows I struggle with patience. I remember working with confirmation class a number of years ago, where one of the male leaders   mentioned he had prayed for patience. He joked at the time that God’s answer to his prayer was to help him grow patience, by calling him to work with middle school boys. That’ll teach you some patience. I, too, do not like to wait. I want an answer now. When praying, I’d really like to know my prayer is heard, will be answered the way I want, and will be answered pretty darn soon. But God does not work that way. Sometimes God takes a long time to answer prayers. Sometimes it is extremely difficult to feel God’s presence. As months dragged on to years waiting for children, I know now that God drew me closer, even though I could not feel his presence. I did not realize at the time that for every tear shed, God was with me weeping too. Only in retrospect do I now see that God was inde