I’ve been coming to Holy Island to stay at least twice a year since 2009. It always feels like coming home to me, a sense of peace and safety envelops me as I get on the causeway. I am away from it all. The vicar at evening prayer tonight prayed for “those communities we’ve left behind.” It’s not that I don’t care about Ripon, I just need a break from stuff. Ministry gets ever more complicated and draining if we don’t look after ourselves.
I’m fascinated by what makes people come onto this Island. It’s been a lovely sunny day all day today. People this morning were streaming onto the Island. It can get overwhelming sometimes and I can’t wait for the tide to come in and the crowds to go home. Do they feel better after being here? You hope so.
For me I always remember an article in the parish magazine which was on the coffee table in Cambridge House on the day I arrived for my first ever retreat on sabbatical in April 2009. It said “you did not come here to get away, you came here to go back.” We retreat, take time, in order to be energised and equipped enough to cope with everything the world throws at us.
I have colleagues in ministry who tell me how long it is since they had a day off. Then they burn out! There’s nothing wrong with retreating. Indeed it is essential. Jesus took time out before big stuff. I’ll say more on that in a minute. I’ve been told in the middle of a busy day with all the demands on me to park the car in a lay-by for half an hour and sleep, or sit in a coffee shop, or go for a walk or deliberately read part of a book that is nothing to do with work on a work day. It’s about looking after our souls when our heads are about to explode.
Remember Alice in Wonderland? She ran as fast as she could to keep up with the Red Queen, but she didn’t gain any ground. Ever feel like that? “Here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place,” said the queen. “If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” How do we get off the merry-go-round that goes faster and faster?
Next time you read the Gospels, notice how often Jesus withdrew. Jesus was retreating all the time—climbing mountains, walking beaches, sailing across the Sea of Galilee. He even spent forty days in the wilderness. Evidently, the best way to make progress is by retreating with great frequency and intentionality! Jesus operated with a sense of urgency, yet He was unhurried. In the words of Japanese theologian Kōsuke Koyama, He is the “three mile an hour God.”
I love these verses in Isaiah chapter 30. We have our own ideas about how to live life but God says you need to return to me in order to do anything. Someone has suggested retreating is not just in order to advance, it is go back, back to what we know, back to the love and call on us of God who invites us to rest in him.
“For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill. And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.”
In Mark 6, Jesus has sent his disciples out two-by-two, having given them authority to engage in the ministry of the kingdom of God. They did as Jesus had said, calling people to repentance and healing the sick. Later, they returned to Jesus to report back. Though Mark does not give us the details of this conversation, we do read one thing Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile” Jesus said this because “there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.” I know how that feels. We have a lot of conversation about sensible eating times round meetings!
Even Jesus got frazzled!
I love the comedian Micky Flanagan. He talks in one of his shows about discovering the relaxing power of Magic Radio. He says they don’t like including the news because they know it will upset us but they are cheeky. The newsreader says there’s been a bad thing happening, very bad, but never mind, here’s Bill Withers with Lovely Day. Then he says “you’re back!” Back to relax and escape.
But sadly life isn’t all escaping. However, we need time out in order to live else we cannot live. Today I’ve walked round this special place in the fresh air and it’s done me good. The pictures in this blog are from that walk. Stuff in my head has begun to sort and Sunday’s sermon has begun to ruminate as has the one Sunday after. Without space to be we just have an overwhelming list of demands which just gets worse and we cannot cope.
“In returning and rest you shall be saved.” Hear that today especially if you are at breaking point. Rest! Do it! Return to God! The world will survive if you stop for a while, won’t it? My churches will still be there on Sunday. I hope!
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