Quiet down before GOD,
be prayerful before him.
Don’t bother with those who climb the ladder,
who elbow their way to the top. – Psalm 37:7 (The Message)
It has certainly been a busy time in the church building lately. With the last
touches on the Accessibility Addition being finished up, preparations for the Open
House being made, and general fall cleanup going on, the building has been even more
of a hive of activity than usual. It was particularly wonderful how many people came out
for the work day on Oct. 4. Along with a great turnout of congregation members, we also
had Boy Scouts and members of Center for Conscious Living, who use our Fellowship
Hall, assisting with the tasks. Quite a bit of work got done inside and outside.
Regular cleanup times are necessary. There are certainly ongoing tasks needed
for caring for a building (and our Tuesday morning property team work hard year-round
to do that for the St. Matthew building), but the occasional more focused time is also
necessary. It is a bit like going for regular cleanings at the dentist. You need to keep up
with brushing and flossing all the time, but even so the regular dentist visit is essential
for deeper cleaning.
I find the same to be true with our spiritual lives. We go to worship regularly and
maintain spiritual practices like prayer and reading the bible. That is a foundation for a
spiritually stable life. It helps maintain an openness to God’s work in your life. In that it is
like the regular maintenance or brushing your teeth. These things are essential. At the
same time, it is not enough. Spiritual gunk accumulates over time. We are
overburdened and easily distracted, and spiritual plaque builds up. We need a deeper
cleaning every so often. That is the role of retreat time. Getting away from the regular
pressures and routines in order to clear out the negative emotional and spiritual buildup
makes a huge difference in our lives of faith. They unclog our ears that we may hear
anew God’s good news for us. It is not easy to find such times, to be sure, but the value
cannot be overstated.