The last
day of the 10-day Silent retreat I attended our leaders gave us some sage
advice. They told us that we cannot
perceive it but our bodies, minds and souls have slowed down since we have been
on the retreat. They told us our senses
are off a bit and they advised us to be careful and not move too fast, or
expect to re-enter the world at the same pace we left. A result of our silence was that we had
slowed down, but the world had not. It
helped explain my inability to remember where I put things. I began to notice this in myself as I had such
a hard time packing, even though I had brought very little with me. I couldn’t remember where I had placed things
I had not needed during the retreat.
After our last session, we broke our silence dinner and then enjoyed an
ice cream party. After so much talking
so much I found it hard to get to sleep.
I had a
long, slow trip home and arrived in time for a two-day weekend before I went
back to work. All of this helped me
adjust to the reality of life outside of a retreat. At home, I returned to my fast-paced
life. I packed as much as I can into a
week. After my retreat, my schedule
included: a mission trip, an action filled vacation, work to keep up with in
between, as well as, packing up my house for a move in between a visit from my
daughter. It was definitely the opposite
of slowing.
But in
the middle of last week I underwent a minor surgery on my foot that required me
to stay in bed for three days. I’m
allowed to be up and about again, but I must wear a boot and take it easy for
the next six weeks. This reality has
brought me back to the spiritual discipline of slowing. Just changing my pace draws my attention back
to God. I can get moving so fast, with
the speed of traffic, and lose my spiritual senses that are the gift of
slowing. To practice the spiritual discipline
of slowing it is suggested that we choose the longest life at the grocery,
drive the speed limit and not five miles over, learn to take our time eating
and drinking and completing our tasks.
Though 1
Peter 3:9 says: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some
understand slowness. Instead he
is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance. God’s slowness is a
virtue that He invites me to follow. I
am reminded of John Ortberg recounting the spiritual direction he undervalued when
it was first given. His mentor listened
to his busy life of service to God and responded by telling him to ruthlessly eliminate
hurry from his life. Ortberg accepted it
and wrote it down but his soul felt in need of more meaningful spiritual
guidance and he asked what else he needed to do. To which his mentor replied: There is nothing else,
he said. You must ruthlessly eliminate
hurry from your life. I’m grateful
for the spiritual gift of my minor surgery.
I hope that six weeks is long enough to learn a habit of slowing!
Copyright © 2017. Deborah R Newman teatimeforyoursoul.com All Rights Reserved.
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