Sabbatical scribblings - silence and load shedding.
Sabbatical Scribblings - Silence and Load Shedding
Sabbatical Scribblings is a series of periodic reflections from Tom & Marcia Hotchkiss as they travel to South Africa for a reunion retreat with Renovare Institute led by Trevor Hudson and as they walk a portion of the Portuguese Camino to Santiago de Compostela.
A good part of our retreat was spent in silence and reflection. The South African church who built and runs the Origins Retreat Center has a strong emphasis on contemplative practices at the center of their spiritual formation and discipleship. Mosaieck Church also emphasizes the arts as part of their corporate and spiritual life together.
Whether there is a group on retreat or not, there is a time of silent prayer in the chapel on the campus at 7:00 am, 12 noon, and 6:00 pm each day. After the teaching times in the morning and afternoon (which only lasted about 30 minutes), our leader, Trevor Hudson, sent us out with some questions, a passage or series of scriptures, or an exercise to be done in silence and by ourselves. We had the entire Origins campus to walk around and the “winter” weather was spectacular each day.
Silence is a powerful resource, especially in the midst of our often busy and chaotic lives. A Jesuit priest when discussing the value of silence said, “Silence is the pathway to one’s soul and the soul is the pathway to God.” Spiritual silence is an emptying of self to make room for God. Silence can open us to a deeper experience of God.
At the beginning of our retreat, we also learned about load shedding which is when a power station cannot meet demand for electricity, power is switched off to parts of the grid to protect power generating assets
It may sound familiar to Texans from a couple of winters ago when the power grid failed or lots of places when the demand for power is too much during summer heat waves.
We made it through a couple very chilly evenings with lots of layers and a couple of blankets before we negotiated trading some generator back up at night in exchange for some black out periods during the days when it was warmer.
In the end, when the electricity is out one learns to slow down and wait for the time when you need power and take care of other things which you can do without power —- resting in the availability of God’s power at all times.
Look for more pictures on the Abbey Facebook page.
Praying for you. Blessings on your way.
Tom (& Marcia) Hotchkiss