My month long break begins today. Hallelujah!
For the last month and for the month to come, I’ve been working through prayers and readings in the book “Celtic Daily Prayer”. The Morning Prayer begins like this:
One thing I have asked of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life;
to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple.
This comes from Psalm 27:4. I love this start because it expresses the foundation of this sabbatical month. Dwelling in the house of the Lord and beholding His beauty are what a sabbatical or spiritual retreat can hope to duplicate for just a brief period of time. I’m seeking the voice of God (“seek Him in His temple”), and it helps to be nearby and attentive just as the Psalmist seeks to dwell in the house of the Lord.
The primary purpose of the Morning Prayer is to center us into that which matters the most: being in the presence of God. Now, I know that can be done in any number of ways and in all situations (Brother Lawrence taught us that centuries ago). But there is something valuable about intentionally cutting off other distractions and taking the time to focus on God’s presence. The Morning Prayer describes the ideal: spending “all the days of my life” in the house of the Lord. I can’t live in that ideal, at least not yet, but through this spiritual retreat month I hope to gain a taste of that.
And so, it begins. Thanks for reading and I hope to provide updates as often as I possibly can!