Retreats are a place of refuge and renewal where we tune in with the Divine flow and the Divine voice. Retreats are a way of paying attention to the rhythms going on inside of us. We can go on individual retreats (solitude or seclusion) or group retreats.
Retreats begin from an imaginative place of time apart. We began to ask ourselves, how can I/we intentionally carve out interruptions for rest and spiritual community to allow something new to birth in our lives? How can we connect with God in a way we haven’t found the space for? As we retreat, we deepen our own spiritual connection with God and with all life. Our culture goes at such a breakneck speed that retreats are like taking our foot off the gas and finally beginning to slow down.
Group retreats are taking time apart for a common purpose with a shared destination, with the goal of shared upliftment. In communal retreats, we get together to do something enjoyable and uplifting, thus moving upward together.
For further exploration:
Invitation to Retreat: The Gift and Necessity of Time Away with God, Ruth Haley Barton (Downers Grove, IL, Intervarsity Press, 2018)
Receiving the Day: Christian Practices for Opening the Gift of Time, Dorothy C. Bass (San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2000)
Rest in the Storm: Self-Care Strategies for Clergy and Other Caregivers, Kirk Byron Jones (Valley Forge, Judson Press, 2001)
What makes retreats powerful and transformative?, Asha Nayaswami, YouTube