One Hundred And One Things

What's this about?

The term retreat, says old friend Wikipedia, has several related meanings, all of which have in common the notion of safety or temporarily removing oneself from one's usual environment in order to become immersed in a particular subject matter. A retreat can be taken for reasons related to spirituality, stress, health, lifestyle, or social or ecological concerns. In particular, I'm thinking of the spiritual sort of retreat: getting away from my everyday life, spending some time in prayer, perhaps with other people, perhaps alone, on an organised retreat.


Why do I want to do this?

The photograph above shows Buckfast Abbey Church; I took it on a snowy day in 2005, when I was on retreat with the Methodist and Anglican Society of Exeter University. It was a fantastic experience, a relaxed weekend with friends coupled with a serious spirituality. The thing is, I haven't been on retreat since. The other thing is, I was on the committee at the time, and had taken on responsibility for catering for the whole group - so it wasn't quite as stress-free as I'd have liked.

I want to go on retreat again. Five years is a long time to go without doing something I know is worthwhile. I'd also like to leave the stress to someone else.


How will I know when it's done?

I'll have spent at least seven hours at a religious retreat organised by somebody else.


I'll record this in a post on this journal.