I'm attending a Christ Renews His Parish retreat at my church this weekend. I haven't been on a retreat since college, so I'm looking forward to this a lot. I don't know exactly what to expect, but I'm looking forward to spending some quiet time away from TV, cell phones and email.
Blaise Pascal once said that "Most of man's misfortunes are derived from not being able to sit alone in a room quietly." I've been trying to spend some quiet time each morning over the course of the past few weeks. I used to just mutter a quick prayer in the morning and rush off to work but I recently realized that I was doing that out of habit and a sense of obligation, rather than a genuine desire to seek God and let Him speak to me. I mean, if you're "praying" but not really being genuine about it, what's the point??? You can fake an interest in a person. You can "pretend" to listen when someone is talking to you. But my guess is that God probably knows when we "fake an interest" in Him by just going to church or praying out of obligation, rather than a desire to genuinely seek Him. Right??? So anyway, I can't wait to go on this retreat tomorrow. I'm excited about the more contemplative person that I see myself becoming and I think this retreat will be another step in the right direction for me.
