Jer.23:1-6
Ps.23
Eph.2:11-22
Mark 6:30-34,53-56

Pentecost 7
Proper 11B RCL

TREASURES OF RETREAT

Credit: Pulp Resource 7/82,9-1
Previous: 82,97,00

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You can't go many places today without hearing the noise of radios, or meeting people who have earphones plugged in to their ears. The transistor radio has been described as Japan's revenge on the world for losing World War II - but more seriously, it is the clanging and noisy symbol of an age that cannot stand the silence that comes with solitude, with being alone. The transistor radio is an ever-present companion even in those places where the sounds of silence used to be treasured and enjoyed - on a walk or at the beach, in the back yard, on a bike path or even jogging. Is there a sight more out of place than a bicycle rider with a blaring transistor dangling from the handlebars, or a jogger with those earphones fixed to a bobbing head? The first time I saw those earphones on a young child, I have to confess that I thought, "How sad: the child is so hard of hearing that he must wear those powerful earphones. " How naive I was! It seems that we modern people are afraid of the quiet and of our own thoughts and feelings when we are alone.

I. It is no easy matter to be still in these days. The radio or TV is clicked on as soon as we get up in the morning: cajoling, urging, entertaining as we get ready for the day. The morning mail is filled with suggestions and pleas and calls to action. Do this, join up, attend here, hurry there, write or call immediately, take advantage, mark carefully. Good causes appear, friends invite, and suggestions abound. So we are pulled apart spiritually, and there is little to pull us together. The end result is confusion and frustration and weariness. We become like that famous illustration of the horsemen, riding off in all directions at once. (Stephen Leacock).

A lot of human trouble comes from our inability to sit in a room alone. If a person spends ten minutes a day looking towards spiritual goals, and ten hours a day in secular aims, the ratio is one in sixty. Even the ten minutes get crowded out, and the slow process of spiritual hunger and starvation continues.

This can happen even when one is pursuing spiritual work. Jesus recognized the need for quiet time for Himself and His disciples, and called them apart from the work of proclaiming the Kingdom. Once when the disciples had returned to Jesus and told Him all that they had done and taught, Jesus said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest awhile." (Mark 6:31a).

A. This is vacation season, and a good time to be thinking about these things, but it is very important to realize that this is not just something for vacation time. Daily times of retreat are necessary for one's spiritual well-being. Quiet times do bring refreshment of soul. The center is restored again, and unimportant things fade away.

Peace, knowledge, freedom, joy: these are some of the treasures of retreat - to say nothing of the greatest treasure of all, the treasure of making time for and sometimes feeling the presence of God. It was one of the Psalms which said years ago, "Be still, and know that I am God" (46:10). We need to regain that stillness and that knowledge.

B. There is a difference between being isolated and being alone. The terrors of isolation are well-known to explorers and prospectors, prisoners and lighthouse-keepers, and more recently to submariners, weather-station operators and astronauts. Cabin-fever and going stir-crazy are powerful expressions for the effects of isolation.

But there is a difference between isolation and solitude. Isolation is usually inflicted upon a person, whereas solitude is freely-chosen. More importantly, isolation is a negative aloneness, whereas solitude is a positive companionship with the voices of silence and the mysterious presence of the universe.

Loneliness is inner emptiness; solitude is inner fulfillment. Solitude is not a place, but a state of mind. Out of solitude comes a new, increased sensitivity and compassion for life. There is an ability to be with people in a way that is not possible before an experience of solitude. Thomas Merton, who has written so much of his experience of solitude, writes this: "Solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers and sisters for what they are, not for what they say .. "

Solitude is one of the parts of life that one must will. One must be intentional about finding time for solitude. It is difficult, but if one is willing to block out the time, one discovers a whole new dimension to life that will be as refreshing as a good night's sleep.

On (these) hot, sticky nights, when sleep may come slowly, we have a ready-made opportunity to rejoice in solitude, not to fill the loneliness with noise, but to listen to the voices of silence, and to discover that one is not alone after all, but is indeed in the presence of God, and being carried by His strong arms. And that is indeed as refreshing as a good nights sleep.