This week my mind is still much on retreat.  While a lot of my time last week at the retreat center was spent in small groups and listening to lectures, a day was set aside for silence.  The leader gave us some structure for our time of silence but wisely did not “over-structure” the time.

I wonder how many of us regularly and consistently take time for silence and solitude and retreat?   You do not need a “retreat center” to have a day long or half-day retreat.  There is value in physically “going away” to a place apart but we could create a retreat in many places.  The question is do we want to and do we?  What holds us back from moving out of the day to day routine?  Do we see no value in giving such time to God and waiting on God in that place of retreat?

What holds us back?  Are we too busy?  Are we too important and needed to go away?  Or do we not want to be quiet and listen?