Personal Retreat

The words silence and solitude seem so quaint and antique in today's fast-paced, activity-driven, tech-saturated world. But for a small segment of spiritual seekers, silence and solitude have long been a centering discipline to quiet our own inner monologue and make ourselves available to hear from God. This past week, I set aside three days to do just that.

The Wixson Ministry Cabin at Camp Sentinel

I had heard about the Wixson Ministry Cabin at Camp Sentinel, a place for full-time Christian workers to get away for rest and refreshment, so I booked it out for 3 nights. I arrived Tuesday afternoon to find that I would be the only one there that week. No campers, no church groups, just me and the small camp staff on 600 acres of beautiful New Hampshire forest.

It's a small two-bedroom log cabin with a large kitchen-dining-living space. Out back is a lovely porch, lawn and fire pit with a view out over Dan Hole Pond (which is really more the size of a small lake). The trail down to the lake opens up to a beach which would have been great for a swim were it not late November. But it did make a lovely place to tie up my hammock and lounge for a while looking out over the lake with the mountains in the background.

The dining/living room area at the cabin

I left my computer at home and put my phone on airplane mode. I didn't even ask for the wifi password. There would be no contact with the outside world. I brought only my Bible and one book as my "guide" for the week. It was the book The Gift of Being Yourself by Dr. David Benner, recommended by one of my pastor friends. It's a short book, only 100 pages or so, perfect for a 3 day retreat. If it were any longer, I would've found myself spending more time reading and less time digesting, evaluating, and applying. His goal was to help the reader know himself better, and therefore know God better. It's a very helpful little book and I definitely recommend it.

Having no agenda or plan or activities to do, I found the hours crept by. I'm so used to being active, that it felt a little weird just sitting there. But just sitting on the couch, trying to quiet my mind, intentionally trying to recognize the presence of God already with me was incredibly helpful. You don't have to go away on a retreat to experience the presence of God. He's with you all the time. He's everywhere. And, as a Christian, He lives inside you. But sometimes we need to get away on a retreat to quiet ourselves enough to recognize that Presence that has been there all along.

Sun rising on the mountains across Dan Hole Pond at Camp Sentinel (click to enlarge)