Nothing comes up but healing
Monday saw the termly quiet day at college, quiet meaning silent except during the offices, the Eucharist and the input sessions.
We had quiet days at LBC (now LST) when I studied there and I was one of those who saw the opportunity of no lectures that day as the perfect chance to read and write. However, this time, with a little encouragement from Kate I ‘did’ quiet day.
Are having long periods of time with nothing to do but sit and think in a prayerful attitude a luxury? Is it a bigger luxury when the subjects of thinking are not work or church or even people related – just selfishly following my own thoughts? Is it one of those ‘important’ things to do that always gets crowded out by the ‘urgent’?
I find it is one of those things that when it happens it so great you think that you must do it more often … and you never do. Giving God the chance to raise the issues he wants to in you life rather than always attending to the things you think should be top of the list.
The phrase that stuck me the most during the input sessions was from some wise monk whose name I did not catch – ‘Nothing comes up but healing.’ Allowing God the space to entering your thinking with out being crowded by your agenda can only lead to healing. Certainly that was my experience.
Luxury? Yes! But then do you turn down Christmas pudding (assuming you like it) because you only have it twice a year? Make the most of it, I say. We have a “retreat” day at Wycliffe once a year and it feels like a luxury too.