Spiritual Formation Spiritual Retreat

Spriritual Retreat

Holy One,

there is something I wanted to tell you

but there have been errands to run

bills to pay,

meetings to attend,

friends to entertain,

washing to do…

And I forget what it is I wanted to say to you,

and mostly I forget what I’m about,

or why.
O God, don’t forget me, please
for the sake of Jesus Christ. 1

We all experience busy lifestyles, and college dwellers are no exception. So many good things to learn, so many good activities in which to engage, so many people to get to know or get to know better, so much to study! And the list can go on…

Sometimes we need to follow Christ’s example of getting away to a quiet place where we can hear our Heavenly Father’s voice more clearly, someplace where we can still the noise of our regular lives (i.e. Luke 5:16).

“Even though it was short, the spiritual retreat was a very refreshing experience. It gave me a chance to kind of fall back and regroup: to take a pause from the craziness of classes and work, and to recognize exactly what God had been working on during the course of this year. It felt like a deep spiritual exhale, where my heart was like, “Wheew. Ok. So this is what’s going on. Good to know. Alright, now I can keep going.” I didn’t come out of the retreat with some great new revelation or anything – it was more like a time of confirmation of stuff that I already knew was going on, but hadn’t had a whole lot of time to think about. It was a really good experience, and I’m glad I chose to go!”

-- Melissa P.

These retreats are not your typical youth retreat – there are no special speakers, no wide games, no special music. Students are not allowed to take homework, laptops, iPods, or cell phones – although cameras and sketch books are encouraged! Instead, we offer guidance through a number of spiritual disciplines, often including times of solitude and silence, prayer, confession, adoration, journaling and celebration.

To accommodate this type of experience, we plan specific retreat times for students. This includes getting away from campus, often heading out to the Red Deer River valley (www.SalemAcres.ca) where we can enjoy God’s creation and listen to the sounds that He creates. The group size is kept small, and we provide meals for the dorm students. There is always at least one faculty or staff member to offer guidance and direction for our time (usually 24 hours).

Retreats are also being planned for our married students, as well as for staff and faculty. Please forward any ideas or questions to Brenda Morrison (Brenda.Morrison@prairie.edu).

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1 Ted Loder, Guerillas of Grace, (Philadelphia: Innisfree Press, 1984), p. 60

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