solitude and silence

i was on bowen island from friday night to sunday morning. saturday was a day of silence and solitude. i followed a guidebook called "alone with the lord" written by one of my former profs - gordon smith. in that book he outlines a full day spent alone with god. there are 4 main sessions - these sessions include meditation on a spec. passage, 15 minutes of silence and journalling.

so in all i spent 1 full hour in silence - it was quite profound. i am now trying to incorporate it into my daily devotional practises - at least 5 minutes of silence. rivendell is quite a stunning retreat center and you only pay what you can afford - i guess it must be subsidized by wealthy patrons.

i plan to do this personal retreat quarterly.

the main thing that came to me was from the book of phillipians - do not worry about anything, but pray about everything. this has helped me to turn my worries into prayers which is quite life-changing. also - let the peace of christ guard your hearts and minds - this inplies that our hearts and minds need to be guarded. i think they need to be guarded by the assualts of the enemy that would seek to poison our hearts and minds - causing soul erosion.

fan went well last night - we had 50 people which was surprising as we were on such a long break.

sn

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