Retreat

It’s a retreat. I’m not is respite, whatever is written on the Google calendar! I take myself away because it gives me time to think and reflect in a way I can’t in the business of life. Since I started as a Chaplain every Monday I have less flexibility in my week, and sometimes, trying to fit everything in gets challenging. And what gives is the time to read, reflect, think and hold the bigger picture. So I’m away as I write. And I’m in a familiar place. Well, I haven’t ever stayed in this particular place before, but I’m in the area I know well and the area I love. If I could afford it, I would choose to retire here. But that’s not going to happen. I’m pretty much where I grew up. It’s a place that has always been part of me. It’s a place of which I have good memories. And when I come here, I feel like I’m coming home. There’s something settling about it. I feel I belong. This is my place. This is a place I feel confident. So, when I need to find space to think and reflect, this is a good place to come. Yesterday I had a lovely phone call with someone I met in this place nearly forty years ago. He was the curate at the church I grew up in when I was at university. And he was the first person to speak with me about my dad (and I was in my early twenties). He also invited me to go to a Beach Mission where he was the leader. Turns out he has lot to answer for! But, over the years we lost touch (it’s not my forte, keeping in touch). But he has now retired and is looking to reconnect with some folk. And I’m one of them. So we chatted. And there’s so much to chat about. When we meet (we put a date in the diary to do just that) there’s lots I want to run past him. He knows me really well. He’s been a massive help in the past. He’s said things I have never forgotten. And I feel safe and confident with him. Bit like being in this place. And it’s got me thinking: maybe it’s good for us to have places we feel safe and confident, and people with whom we feel safe and confident. And maybe too it’s good to have “places” we can go to feel safe and confident in God. I don’t know about you, but there’s much that causes me to be anxious and fearful, both in the church and out of the church. And in the times I’m struggling, I need “places” I can go to find strength and comfort in God. It might a physical place where I feel close to God. It may a place I can worship. It may be a part of the Bible that speaks to me of God’s great and magnificent love. It may be a song. It may be a friend with whom I can share and who knows me well. But what I need from time to time is a “retreat” so I can be reminded of some very important things. I need space to reflect on what I know but have forgotten because life gets busy. Hosea reminds us that God has unbroken love for us. Sometimes, in our brokenness, we would do well to find a way to remember that God’s unbroken love is real, and waiting for us.