I feel asleep in church today

Yup, I did just that!  I feel asleep in church!  And I was even given permission to do so! It wasn’t because of a boring sermon or lack of interest in what was going on.  It was, instead, simply because we were given permission to do whatever God was directing us to do.  In church.  During a day of personal silent retreat.  And the day ~ in fact, the whole experience ~ didn’t disappoint.

The retreat day started the minute we walked out in the cold dark 7:45am (that’s kl. 07.45 for my local Swedish friends) in Malmö.  Thankful that it was just spitting rain as we left home, of course it was raining, as in a good healthy winter rain, by the time we got to our train station 20 minutes later.

Took this shot of Steve as we installed ourselves in the train for the one hour ride to Sösdala.  We had no idea how many would be participating, but were so joyful when 12 plus the 2 leaders gathered for fika (Swedish coffee break, always includes something to eat….YUM!) and then started our day of silence together.

Taking the train helps the retreat from life start the minute we step on the train.  Fun fact:  the word "joy" in the front of this photo is my current cross stitch project.  There was so much joy that we experienced in the course of this retreat day ~

Making space for retreat in one’s life and ministry schedule is a really good thing.  Having time together with a group of friends and strangers in silence, focusing on God’s word in the middle of the busy season of Advent and preparation for Christmas, is a really good thing.

Our retreat setting in Tureholmskyrkan, Equmeniakyrkan in Sösdala, Sweden

What you need to know about this important piece of art in the church...it's not painted, but in fact has been designed by crafting together pieces of colored leather.  It tells the story of the life of Jesus.  So incredibly beautiful!

 

Why we celebrate Advent ~ waiting ~ for the Messiah who has already come to earth long ago and is coming back.  This is our hope!

Shepherds ~ ordinary people like you and me ~ were the first to hear the incredibly Good News that Jesus, the Messiah, had been born in Bethlehem

This story, of Simeon who waited to see God's promised Messiah, has long been my favorite Gospel story.  Look what happens when we wait on God!

So, as we were released from the morning meditation (the only time during the day that anyone spoke in the church), I decided to just lie down on a pew (bench in a church) and just hold on to my Bible and the thoughts that had been just shared with us.

And that’s when I fell asleep.

View from the pew when I woke up ~ not bad, eh??

I was in such a place of peace.  And safety.  And just complete joy.  And rest.  Sabbath rest.

And when I woke up again, not even sure how long I had slept because we had been asked to take off our watches and not look at our phones to figure out what time it was, I had no idea how long I had slept.  And, funny enough, it didn’t matter.  I had just been in a place of peace.  True peace.  Sweet peace. 

 

A couple of other treasured places to sit and ponder Christ's coming to earth.  The Advent Candles that, of course, are decorated with pepperkakor (traditional spice cookies that only show up during Advent/Christmas).  We are living in Sweden, after all!

Stations that included candles to lit, icons to reflect on ~

The station where you celebrated joy and thankfulness ~

The station where you left the heavy things of life ~ later in the afternoon meditation, we took all the pieces of paper that had been written on and gave them up to God.  Meaningful beyond what I could ever have expected ~

After a well deserved nap, lunch, more time to reflect, my creative juices were ready to flow!  The accompanying text to this piece of art was:  "He knew us as we are, and still He came" by Scott Cairns

The hymns of the church along with texts from the book of Psalms gave us great things to think about in our afternoon meditation ~

Closing out the day together with Holy Communion ~ sharing in Christ's sacrifice as His body of believers who came together for a quiet Saturday afternoon in Sweden ~

Resting in the peace of our heavenly Father who sent Jesus to be born on earth to bring us back to God himself.  That’s. True. Peace.

Leaving this sacred place, one is blessed with a glance of another piece of art ~ Jesus holding onto one of "us" and saying "Kommen till mig" ~ come to me.  Good words to go out back into the world with as we celebrate Jesus!