Disrupting and Rising...
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All we do should be oriented outward in love. A song of praise to God. A gift to souls.
The trouble is that it is extraordinarily easy to live with a veneer of piety but neglect the dark corners which need the light of Christ. We set conditions on how much He is allowed to touch. Going deeper means a lot of fresh pain... a lot of deep work.
This is why I go on retreat. Because I am incapable of disrupting myself enough to make it happen. The act of going on retreat is my assent to the deep work and I enter in like this:
"Lord, I'm going to say yes for all the superficial reasons. Mostly, I want rest. But what I think might happen is that you will break me in order to renew me. I want that. Sort of. But You know I don't really want ALL of it. So I'm going. And I'll love all the things that console me... and I'll be overwhelmed by unexpected grace. I'll come home tired. But changed. I trust in You.”
I just came off the Arise Retreat weekend where I both participated and presented. I cannot unfold for you all that went on, though I will share some things in the coming days. But let it suffice to say...
That the most healing action you can take is to place yourself in the Presence of Jesus Christ, to offer Him everything in your life and ask Him to change you.
Pray the giant scary prayers. Ask for miracle. Expect them.
Go on retreat with a bunch of women who you trust with your vulnerable soul and who understand that the goal of sanctity is not to find a temporary relief from the dishes... but to be crucified with the Lord so that we might rise up as new creations.
Hug people. Repeatedly. Spend time in an environment that is not saturated with the secular narrative, but one in which you are immersed in reality and truth. So that you might arise from the grave and live again.
My gratitude to @1brooketaylor for again providing the opportunity to surrender within a safe and sanctified environment.
"Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves... And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live" (Ez. 37)
#ariseretreat