In May I went on retreat as I try to do every year. It’s a privilege that I don’t take for granted. You don’t have to be ordained to go on retreat and I certainly encourage people to take a retreat. However, I’m aware that prioritising time for an annual retreat to pray, read the Bible, truly embrace the concept of Sabbath and take delight in God’s creation is made simpler when part of your vocation, job, calling, is about doing those things and encouraging others to do them too.

Retreats are important. Sometimes we can retreat for a week, 4 days, a weekend, a day, four hours. Sometimes our retreat might be in the Pyrenes, or Lake District, or Scunthorpe, or Burslem, or the local café.

Retreats are about taking the time to pause. We read in the gospels, of Jesus going up a mountain alone, or withdrawing from the disciples to pray. And throughout the centuries as disciples and apprentices of Jesus have sought to follow him more closely, they have taken time for pilgrimage, or times of retreat.

The thing with being a disciple, or apprentice of Jesus, is that it’s not just about head knowledge, or heart knowledge, or the way we practically live out our faith, all three of those aspects of faith are important. Personally, I’ve found retreats help me to re-balance that dynamic, even if all balance seems to melt away when I see my email inbox on my return home!

This year I stayed at Llannerchwen (www.rscjuk.org/llannerchwen) a silent retreat centre I’ve stayed in a number of times before. It’s in the midst of the Brecon Beacons and is a beautiful place if you are seeking some silence and peace.

The day after I returned home I was saddened to learn of John Lloyd’s death. John was a wonderful friend and colleague who took his apprenticeship to Jesus very seriously. If you’re interested in prayer and perhaps want to begin with a regular “armchair” retreat, then I whole heartedly commend his little book, The Adventure of Prayer, free copies are available from both All Saints’ and St. Margaret’s. John will be greatly missed, but his heart for prayer lives on in the pages of his book.

Take some time, pause, retreat. You won’t regret it

Blessings

Tim