Friday, September 2, 2022
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Master your own method of retreat
No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak.
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.
I look forward to my next retreat. I could say spiritual retreat to distinguish from the military-like defensive maneuver, but really, in any withdrawal from chaos (think NAP), retreat is usually rich with rest, recuperation, and receptivity. I was emptied, drained, exhausted, tired. The old wine was too old, and it tasted sour. I am ready for something new.
When I make this a spiritual retreat, I ask God to be in charge. He is always knocking. This time I open the door.
Take nothing to read,
No journal or pen,
Slow
D
O
W
N
To the point of no motion,
The absolute zero of the soul
Attentive
Patient
Prolonged
Listening
And welcome whatever happens,
even if whatever feels like nothing.
And forget what you thought
you knew – all of it.
And welcome God,
as God wishes to be
with you. – Clarence Heller
God loves me, but he isn’t easy on me.
On the other hand, no one who has ever tasted fine aged wine preferred the Beaujolais nouveau of the day.
God’s new message seems difficult. My old life might exhaust me, but at least I’m used to it. How can I be more patient while God’s new wine waits, first in its wineskin and then inside my spiritual stomach?
Developing this patience is the second purpose of retreat, and one that lasts beyond my given-over hour, afternoon, weekend, or week. Left alone, I find my way back to the old neuropathways and quickly become exhausted again. Help, Lord!
Trust in the Lord and do good, that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security. Take delight in the Lord, and he will grant you your heart’s requests.
So in other words, drink the new wine anyway.
Or in other, other words, just do the work, whether or not I want to. Notice how the “new wine” makes me feel, if not at first, then later.
Turn from evil and do good, that you may abide forever. For the Lord loves what is right and does not forsake his faithful ones.
For example, I decided to volunteer an hour a week at the Austin Disaster Relief Network (ADRN) Thrift Store. My son-in-law Aki has done this for a few years, and I signed up too. He picks me up on Tuesdays, and we spent an hour sorting clothes, books, furniture and Other Household Stuff. I generally don’t want to go, and then afterward I’m glad I did.
Another friend works there four days a week. “I did not want to take this job,” he said. “But it was the right thing to do.” He looked tired when he said that, and he looked happy.
The salvation of the just is from the Lord; he is their refuge in time of distress.
It is good to take refuge in the Lord. With the Lord there is no hurry. He always has more than enough, and he shares with each of us without sparing.
(1 Corinthians 4, Psalm 37, John 8, Luke 5)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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