Retreat! Repeat!

Retreat! When issued as an order it is a stark command to back up and give ground for the sake of regrouping. There are some who are never ready or willing to give ground; they stand on their pride and sometimes fall because of it. Rare is the operation that is nothing but sustained progress in one direction! Adjustments have to be made. Dynamics change in the process. Key people may be lost or incapacitated. There’s an old saying along the lines of ‘the plan is perfect—until it meets reality.’ Stepping back under fire is sometimes the wisest strategy one can use. Winning the battle may take several moves and not all of them are a direct frontal assault. 

When we talk about retreat in the corporate world, we typically mean a time and setting for a team to examine their work away from the pressures of the daily grind. These affairs might take place at a resort or a park or a conference center, but the gist is that they will not be  ‘business as usual.’ The task will be to think of the business in ways that are intentionally unusual! What are the dynamics affecting the team? What kinds of changes would be helpful? Who needs what resources in order to improve function? What timelines need to be constructed? Where are the possible pitfalls? So the common function of a corporate retreat is focused on goals and efficiency and effectiveness. We take a time to stop business so that we can come back and do business better. 

Often a retreat is used in the spiritual realm. It is a time away from the daily routines so that one has the chance for more reading, reflection, introspection, and prayer. A spiritual retreat may have some elements of those mentioned above. It may be that the spiritual strategies that are used need to be adjusted. It may be that the questions of efficiency and effectiveness have to be asked and answered. There can be a sense of accomplishment involved, although that is not essential.

I was on retreat once with some friends at a monastery for a few days. At the first prayer service of Vigils at 3:15am one of my friends came in. I asked him quietly how he was doing. He whispered that he had been up all night reading a particular book (in fact, it was a really good and valuable book—commendable!). I softly reminded him that this was a time for retreat, not a time to launch a full-scale attack! He had accomplished something, but I’m convinced that he had lost something of the sense of rest that the retreat was to provide. In essence, he was forcing it—not the ideal. 

The word retreat gets tossed around a bit too lightly sometimes. I was with a group of clergy once and someone suggested that we should take a retreat. The issue was that what they had in mind was actually creating a task group with a particular focus. I informed them that I would not be participating. In fact, I told them that this group (of which I was a part, mind you!) didn’t really know how to do a retreat. What we were good at was honestly working at a another location. The mode and means of retreat would just be to shift to another spot to achieve something that could have been done in our daily work. It was subtle, but it was making up one big work block thinking we could work better somewhere else! 

I went on to explain to them how I have retreated now for decades. I go to the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky where I get a room or a cell. I participate in the liturgy of the hours with the monks which means seven different prayer services throughout the day beginning at 3:15am. Simple meals are provided in the dining room where silence is kept. The other hours of the day are filled with reading, writing, reflecting, walking, praying, and sometimes just sitting. It is a place of hospitality and healing for me. I leave them an offering for my time and rejoice in all the silence, solitude, and stillness that if affords me. 

Now, I do have to say that when I was an active minister these ‘retreats’ sometimes tended towards doing work while away. There would be sermon schedules to consider, or program plans for the year ahead, or reading with a particular focus. Once I was working on an assignment that required reflecting on my spiritual journal and it left me in tears and a dark place. Yes, I, too, have been tempted to use the time and space away for the concerns that I would face when I got back. 

This year’s retreat was different. I’ve recently retired, so I didn’t have a schedule or program out there ahead of me. I’m not preaching anywhere on a regular basis, so there were no sermons demanded. I am not teaching at the moment, so no plans or studies were on the docket. I did read some, but that was a given. This year’s retreat was simply time to breathe, to rest, to sleep, to look inside for a few days. I’ll not go into all the details of it—no need really. Much like always I followed the monk’s schedule and participated in their lives. For a few days I didn’t cook, plan the menus, write the liturgies, lead the worship, or make decisions that affected others. All the details for living were already arranged according to an ancient rule and rhythm that was balanced and left me blessed. 

I returned refreshed somewhat. No great insights or bursts of intuition that alter my daily life. No outstanding moments that will be etched in my mind from now on. No grand revelations that shake me to the bone. 

But the time to back up, to stop for a few days, to read at leisure, to pray without ceasing—all of those help me to get up today in a better place than I would have been. I’ve been doing this now for 35 years! I’m about to get it right—maybe. Retreat and repeat!