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I took the time last weekend to go on a retreat. The opportunity was offered to me several months ago. Although I wrote the date on my calendar, it took me a long time to register. It was hard to make the commitment to spend a weekend away from home.
When I am immersed in my ordinary daily life, I sometimes fall into a routine that feels automatic. Mundane tasks and routine decisions assume a false importance. I can allow my prayer life to diminish. Taking the time to step away from the ordinary breaks that cycle and helps me to find balance again and to recognize the holiness of daily life. I know this, and still it is hard to carve out the time to spend an entire weekend on retreat.
Finally, with the registration deadline at hand, I made my decision and signed up. Still, I had the idea that I could cancel at the last minute if an urgent obligation cropped up at home. No such obligation or emergency appeared, and so I left on Friday after work to spend the weekend focusing on my relationship with God. My head was swirling with unfinished tasks left at home, but I resolved to leave everything behind, to "let go and let God."
At some point on Friday evening, I could feel myself beginning to relax. The first talk was excellent and I could feel my spirit responding to the wisdom I was hearing. The retreat was just what I needed. I spent a lot of time in silence, reading, resting and praying. At the closing Mass, I found myself feeling very thankful for the experience of the retreat weekend. I felt refreshed and rejuvenated. More than that, I had gained a deeper sense of God’s presence in my everyday life and a clearer sense of opportunities for holiness in the midst of the ordinary.
