Monthly Archive for April, 2008Page 2 of 2

Retreat

Published
by
Graeme
on April 10, 2008
in My Pilgrimage
. 0 Comments

Over the last 3 days (Monday to Wednesday) the centre leaders and divisional leaders in my division have been on retreat. It’s been a wonderful 3 days in which it has been possible to take a short time away from the corps and recharge the spiritual batteries.

One thing that always happens to me though, whenever I go away, is that I have a bad night the first night. I don’t know what it is but I can never sleep properly the first night in a different bed! Anyway, as I lay awake I remembered something that a fellow Army blogger wrote about being on retreat. I can’t even remember who it was now, but they didn’t like the word retreat because it symbolised going backwards (i.e. retreating from the enemy!) As I lay there thinking I started to consider what retreating meant and I suppose on one level that blogger has a point. To retreat does mean to back away from the battle, and I suppose with our emphasis on military metaphor this is the first meaning that come to mind!

To retreat actually has an alternative meaning, in fact it has several but I want to concentrate on just one right now. To go on a spiritual retreat doesn’t actually mean that we are stepping away from the battle. In fact, in some circumstances it actually can allow us to focus on the spiritual battle that often gets overlooked in the day to day work that all Christians should be involved in. This opportunity to concentrate our energies on the spiritual side of things is invaluable for anyone who is aware of the spiritual battle that is going on.

For me these 3 days spoke to me in ways that I am going to be working out in my ministry. They spoke to me of things I hadn’t considered before and they allowed me to continue to build relationships with others in the division. These days gave me an opportunity to share my thoughts and have them tested by people I respect. Above all I came back feeling refreshed but knowing that despite being on retreat, I had actually advanced in my faith by taking some quality time to worship and study God’s word.

Flawed and partial

Published
by
Graeme
on April 4, 2008
in Blog stuff and My Pilgrimage
. 4 Comments

When I sat down to start this blog I had no idea where it would take me. There was no intention to it, other than as a medium for sharing my thoughts, particularly those that I had on my journey of faith. Sometimes I’ve written stuff that I wonder whether I should have written. Other times I’ve written stuff that I’m really happy with. Most of the time, being totally honest, my writing has been rather mediocre.

There have been times when I have wondered whether I should simply stop writing and give up on blogging. This has been the case over the last few weeks as my thoughts seem to have dryed up, or rather my mind has been full of thoughts that aren’t quite my usual direction. Today though, I was encouraged as I read this:

…modesty will remind us that what we call the Fall teaches that everything we think, do and say is flawed and partial. At best we only know in part (1 Corinthians 13:9Open Link in New Window).

I started writing because I needed a conduit by which I could actually process some of the thoughts I was having. It was partly frustration, partly spiritual exercise. I continued to write partly out of habit, partly out of sheer stubbornness.

A couple of weeks ago I taught on a Sunday morning about our inability to really know the ways of God. In that sermon I said two things:

  1. In our fallen humanity, that state that developed after Adam & Eve ate of the tree, men and women, even Christian men and women, can sometimes think they have the solution for every situation.
  2. Today though it can sometimes seem that when God seeks to move in ways that are not how we expect him to move, we attempt to stifle what he wants to do.

Those Christians I know who seem to speak all the time with absolute certainty and seem to always have an answer to every situation off the top of their heads often seem to be like these two bits from the sermon. They always have an answer and are never, ever uncertain about anything, yet they also want to stifle anything, usually deeming it unchristian, that doesn’t fit in with their certainty. These people seem to see everything clearly!

However, those who I respect most, and actually are some of the most Christlike people I know, whilst certain of their salvation, openly admit that they don’t have all the answers, sometimes get things wrong and on occasions encourage people to try knew things in the power of the Spirit. Amidst the certainty of their faith, they acknowledge their flawed and partial knowledge.

So where does that leave me? I don’t have all the answers and this blog has been, and will continue to be my rather small effort in trying to work out my thoughts. My thinking may be flawed, probably more often than not, but they are an honest attempt at trying to see clearer in a world shrouded by darkness but illuminated by the light of Christ.