Come to Me
- lesateters
- Feb 28
- 2 min read
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Guided silence and solitude retreats, spiritual retreats, along with spiritual practices in community are not for a body of information to be filed away or put in a notebook on the shelf. They are at least 3 things. Obedience to Jesus in the form of responding to his invitation, 1 – “Come to me … and I will give you rest”, 2 – Ways to connect with God through ancient practices that are tried and true, 3 – Designed to be lived out in community through a rhythm of alone and together with Jesus and others to strengthen the body of Christ for Kingdom work. These reasons sound a lot like the practice of pilgrimage when God’s people would travel to a spiritual destination to be with God and his people up to 3 times per year (see Psalms of Ascent 120-134 (Psalms 120 - 134 - ESV).
Do you have the discipline to come away with Jesus daily? Weekly? Monthly? Annually? If you do, what would that look like? Does it include time to practice listening and praying in the presence of other believers desperate for a touch or word from God? Can you challenge yourself to step off the treadmill of daily life and lean into the word of God, the presence of God and prayer on an annual retreat? Do you long to gather together with Jesus and others to practice silence and solitude, the examen, listening to and hearing God in community for healing prayer?
“Are you feeling low? Tired? Empty? Perhaps God is asking you to go on a silent retreat. Retreats, particularly those done in silence, allow us to set time apart for God by disconnecting from the very connected world we live in. Retreats can be for as little as one day to as long as one month, going away by yourself to be alone with God.”
Fr. Brenton Cordeiro Holiness, Prayer, Self-Knowledge
If you hunger to spend time with God and others leaning into and listening for his voice, come away with us April 9-11, 2026.
Judy Glanz, Spiritual Director