Yesterday (Friday) I did my second day of spiritual retreat (trying to do one per week). This one I did at Goshen College's Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center. (I know our daughter Dora did a spring biology course at Merry Lea some years ago.) This is a fairly large (nearly 1200 acre) nature preserve composed of many wetlands, bogs, marshes, prairies, and forests, many of them in process of being restored to native condition. Merry Lea is about 35 miles southeast of Goshen. Goshen has recently built three new buildings, all of them with "green" features, for offices and student housing, called "Reith Village." I stayed in one of these new buildings Thursday night. (Loretta opted to "stay home" this time.) Goshen College students use this facility for study, of course, but over 5,000 K-12 students also visit the Center each year in environmental education programs. Merry Lea's motto is "Come and see a wonderful place where earth and people meet."
My time of retreat went well, and it was a beautiful day, with sunshine from sunrise to sunset! But it was cold, only in the 20's, so while I did the "required" readings, I spent most of my day "on the move" on the 5 miles of trails within the preserve in an attempt to keep warm. What I find so rewarding about these days (now after the second one) is the time of uninterrupted solitude, 10 hours to just be alone as one of God's creatures within God's creation. I realize how seldom I have allowed myself to have such times. At my first day of retreat at The Hermitage, I remember how I kept looking up, expecting to be interrupted by something (a phone call, a different duty, meal time, etc.). So I know these days are one of the most valuable features of my Sabbatical, that time for "rest and renewal", which is what a Sabbatical means Biblically.
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2 comments:
I'm beginning to understand this idea of "retreat" more and more and the importance it has on our lives as pastors, but more importantly for everyone as we live in a society with so many things vying for our attention and time. We live in a very loud society and I can only imagine what peace the quiet of creation must bring. I am jealous!
I finally got around to reading the whole blog. I think I would find it difficult to be silent for such a length of time, however, I relish alone time much more now than years ago. In reference to the AIMM housing, we did stay at the seminary in the 70's for 6 weeks prior to our first trip to Zaire. Perhaps we stayed in the same place you are now in. We took some classes under Ramsyer and another one from the Gospel of Mark from David Schoeder who was a visiting professor for that summer. Hope all is well. Thanks for keeping us informed. Shirley R.
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