It's an understatement to say it has been a year like no other.
The stress of violence and tragedies, the frustrations and bewilderment caused by the myopic foolishness of self-interest, and the sometimes head-snapping pockets of discovery and joy, have left most of us exhausted.
The idea of starting 2021 raises emotions from antipathy and numbness to anticipatory dread to hope and conviction that a new day is surely coming.
This quote by Dr. Howard Thurman from 1961 seems a fitting summary of the downs, ups, and more downs of this past year, and provides the theme for this Christmas Retreat:
The symbol of Christmas—what is it? It is the brooding Presence of the Eternal Spirit making crooked paths straight, rough places smooth, tired hearts refreshed, dead hopes stirred with the newness of life. It is the promise of tomorrow at the close of every day, the movement of life in defiance of death, and the assurance that love is sturdier than hate, that right is more confident that wrong, that good is more permanent than evil. (The Inward Journey)
This retreat will not completely fill your tank, assuage your exhaustion, or provide a clear path of hope for the future.
But it will, I pray, provide a theological and spiritual framework to what you have endured, witnessed, and felt this past year.
Whether you have a little time to yourself or a lot, this retreat gives directions for a 90-minute, three-hour, or six-hour retreat.
By God's grace we will minister in 2021 with an open heart, confident that God will continue to provide all we need to preach, minister, and lead.
This, too, shall pass. And in the meantime, people need Good News.
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