and I are trying to plan the first of what we hope are many spiritual retreats, and we're looking for a bit of advice.
Here's what we have planned so far:
Brandon's father has a farm about two hours from here, which is where the retreat would be located.
No technology of any kind, except for cell phones in case of emergency (or maybe we just give out the land line number of the house and don't take cell phones either).
Our diet will consist entirely of bread, water, and coffee.
We will pray the , with each time of prayer followed by silence, and concluding with journaling.
All other time will be filled by reading scripture, reading books, and manual labor (around the farm).
So that's a rough sketch of what we've been working on, but we're looking for some advice and guidance. If you've been on a spiritual retreat and/or have planned them, what are the best resources you can recommend? Do you have any tips? We're looking for anything at all to help us plan the most nourishing retreat possible.
If you know of anything that would be helpful, please leave a comment!
i would plan for an evening meditation/contemplative prayer space with candles and other possible simple prayer stations… being away from it all is great and along with the simple focus you are planning, a space full of candle-light for prayer could be a good addition.
Jake ~ Have you read Tony Jones' "The Sacred Way"? He has some great stuff in there… Also Henri Nouwen's "The Way of the Heart". Both are excellent resources for Spiritual Disciplines including solitude, silence and retreat
I think the simplicity and rhythm you've got is great. Something I have done in settings like this is practice "purposeless time." A challenge for many of us Protestants when it comes to contemplative practices is our ethic of productivity. Work is good, but an effective abnormal jolt to our typical rhythm is the freedom and the space to do nothing. On one occasion I wandered out of the monastery into a pine grove, laid down on a thick carpet of needles and watched the sky in meditation for almost three hours. I was so still and quiet that deer walked by me no more than 10 feet away. I drifted in and out of sleep, and whenever the impulse to go "do" something arose, I would say "No, this is enough to be God's beloved."
We did something similar as a group of youth leaders before the school year started. Being a worshipful guy, I'd recommend planning some sort of music. Whether someone has a guitar, or accapella, it'll be a great environment for worship.
Great idea, man. In our discussions, Brandon and I had mentioned how we don't want the whole time to feel "programmed". Your idea of purposeless time I think puts into words what we were trying to get at.
Reba.
We want it to be sort of like a fast but not really. We don't want to focus on the indulgence of eating, so we're going as plain as possible.
What are your more healthful suggestions?
you need to hire someone cool like gavin richardson to help you lead your retreat. &:~)
seriously, if you can get your hands on a copy of "Creating a Life with God" by Daniel Wolpert, its an accessible practices book as in the Sacred Way, but in the chapters (or back of the book) daniel gives suggestions on how to do some of the stuff in group settings. very helpful when starting out down this road.
Worship Feast, which are idea/curriculum books that i've collaborated on have tons of experiential worship ideas, prayer stations, readings etc.
My wife and I are Benedictine oblates and we enjoy spiritual retreats at St. Leo Abbey in Florida, USA. We did something before a recent retreat that helped make it one of the best ones. At least a month or two before going to the abbey we began to think about a possible overall theme for our retreat. The thought of a theme stayed in the back of our minds and in our conversations. One day as we walked from our car in the parking lot to our local Publix grocery store we talked about something related to God and my wife said, "‘Thy will IS done,' would be a good overall theme for our retreat." For the remainder of the time before the retreat we thought and meditated on the theme — in all that happens it is God's will that is accomplished. Spending time in spiritual contemplation on our theme before the retreat put us in the "retreat mode of life" well before we arrived and made the retreat experience a much longer event. God's irony, of course, was that our retreat gave us a blessing that was His Will in a way that we could never have imagined and our retreat was nothing like we had planned!
I second Zach's words. I just went on a solitary retreat and my mandate was to "enjoy Me" (God). Over three days I soaked it in and when I went home a whole bunch of things emerged that I was not aware of that only became clear when I stopped thinking about it.
I too would suggest a more healthy approach. I would go with raw vegetables and water or decaf green tea. Bread is likely refined and bloats you. Coffee is a stimulant. Your body can best function on raw vegetables (maybe with a flavored hummus).
I think your idea is great. I would also suggest an extended period of silence… at the retreats I've been to it has been 24 hours of silence. It is a very healthy exercise, to be in community, but practicing the spiritual discipline of silence. I would also suggest Foster's Celebration of Discipline as a bit of a guide.
Hi, Jake and Brandon et.al. I'm also looking for retreat resources, but for an overnight kayaking trip with my daughter. Is it okay to piggyback onto your blog and ask that if people know of resources that address the analogy of rivers to the spiritual journey, that they email me at linnea.stifler@gmail.com? I'm a fan of courtesy as well as not so blogger-savvy, so I apologize in advance if this is impolite.
I realize your comment was long ago but I just found this site. Might suggest a couple of books: "The Wisdom of the Wilderness" by Gerald C. May and "Renewal in the Wilderness" by John Lionberger. I've read both of them and liked them. Another which I haven't yet read is "A River Echoes in My Ministry," a 1700 mile journey in search of purpose leads to discovery (Mississippi River).
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i would plan for an evening meditation/contemplative prayer space with candles and other possible simple prayer stations… being away from it all is great and along with the simple focus you are planning, a space full of candle-light for prayer could be a good addition.
Thanks, Rachel. I hadn't thought of setting up a prayer space with candles (or anything else for that matter).
Jake ~ Have you read Tony Jones' "The Sacred Way"? He has some great stuff in there… Also Henri Nouwen's "The Way of the Heart". Both are excellent resources for Spiritual Disciplines including solitude, silence and retreat
I think the simplicity and rhythm you've got is great. Something I have done in settings like this is practice "purposeless time." A challenge for many of us Protestants when it comes to contemplative practices is our ethic of productivity. Work is good, but an effective abnormal jolt to our typical rhythm is the freedom and the space to do nothing. On one occasion I wandered out of the monastery into a pine grove, laid down on a thick carpet of needles and watched the sky in meditation for almost three hours. I was so still and quiet that deer walked by me no more than 10 feet away. I drifted in and out of sleep, and whenever the impulse to go "do" something arose, I would say "No, this is enough to be God's beloved."
Hey Jabo.
Wondering why you chose bread and water?
Why not a more healthful approach?
We did something similar as a group of youth leaders before the school year started. Being a worshipful guy, I'd recommend planning some sort of music. Whether someone has a guitar, or accapella, it'll be a great environment for worship.
I do have the Sacred Way, but I don't currently own anything by Nouwen. Thanks for the tips.
Great idea, man. In our discussions, Brandon and I had mentioned how we don't want the whole time to feel "programmed". Your idea of purposeless time I think puts into words what we were trying to get at.
Reba.
We want it to be sort of like a fast but not really. We don't want to focus on the indulgence of eating, so we're going as plain as possible.
What are your more healthful suggestions?
Music will be incorporated somehow for sure.
you need to hire someone cool like gavin richardson to help you lead your retreat. &:~)
seriously, if you can get your hands on a copy of "Creating a Life with God" by Daniel Wolpert, its an accessible practices book as in the Sacred Way, but in the chapters (or back of the book) daniel gives suggestions on how to do some of the stuff in group settings. very helpful when starting out down this road.
Worship Feast, which are idea/curriculum books that i've collaborated on have tons of experiential worship ideas, prayer stations, readings etc.
here's a collection of prayer station ideas i've chronicled.
http://www.gavoweb.com/hit_the_back_button_to_mo/…
Thanks, Gavin… I appreciate the input! I'll look into the Wolpert book.
My wife and I are Benedictine oblates and we enjoy spiritual retreats at St. Leo Abbey in Florida, USA. We did something before a recent retreat that helped make it one of the best ones. At least a month or two before going to the abbey we began to think about a possible overall theme for our retreat. The thought of a theme stayed in the back of our minds and in our conversations. One day as we walked from our car in the parking lot to our local Publix grocery store we talked about something related to God and my wife said, "‘Thy will IS done,' would be a good overall theme for our retreat." For the remainder of the time before the retreat we thought and meditated on the theme — in all that happens it is God's will that is accomplished. Spending time in spiritual contemplation on our theme before the retreat put us in the "retreat mode of life" well before we arrived and made the retreat experience a much longer event. God's irony, of course, was that our retreat gave us a blessing that was His Will in a way that we could never have imagined and our retreat was nothing like we had planned!
I second Zach's words. I just went on a solitary retreat and my mandate was to "enjoy Me" (God). Over three days I soaked it in and when I went home a whole bunch of things emerged that I was not aware of that only became clear when I stopped thinking about it.
I too would suggest a more healthy approach. I would go with raw vegetables and water or decaf green tea. Bread is likely refined and bloats you. Coffee is a stimulant. Your body can best function on raw vegetables (maybe with a flavored hummus).
is there such a thing as a non-spiritual retreat?
Agreed. Raw vegetables or, even gentler, boiled (as in a vegetable stew) would be best for a kind-of-fast.
I think your idea is great. I would also suggest an extended period of silence… at the retreats I've been to it has been 24 hours of silence. It is a very healthy exercise, to be in community, but practicing the spiritual discipline of silence. I would also suggest Foster's Celebration of Discipline as a bit of a guide.
Hi, Jake and Brandon et.al. I'm also looking for retreat resources, but for an overnight kayaking trip with my daughter. Is it okay to piggyback onto your blog and ask that if people know of resources that address the analogy of rivers to the spiritual journey, that they email me at linnea.stifler@gmail.com? I'm a fan of courtesy as well as not so blogger-savvy, so I apologize in advance if this is impolite.
I realize your comment was long ago but I just found this site. Might suggest a couple of books: "The Wisdom of the Wilderness" by Gerald C. May and "Renewal in the Wilderness" by John Lionberger. I've read both of them and liked them. Another which I haven't yet read is "A River Echoes in My Ministry," a 1700 mile journey in search of purpose leads to discovery (Mississippi River).