AWAY I WENT

In 2002 I scheduled these “God Getaways” once-a-month for twelve months. There was a conference center in Lake Hughes, California that accommodated people who worked in the full-time ministry for free when space allowed so I took ’em up on their offer. It was about a 1.5 hour drive from where I lived but the goal was consistent with the title – to get away. I remember struggling with being alone, but desperately needing time to isolate. I remember how tired I’d be driving around the winding turns of the Angeles National Forest and how I’d always get to the conference center later than I intended. I’d pull-up and knock on the center director’s door to get the key and he’d have that look on his face like, “Really…” Nevertheless, there was an indescribable quiet in those times. I’m not sure I had told anyone where I was so had I been mauled to death by a bear it’d be years before the forensics came back and kinfolk notified . Sometimes I was at the center less than 24 hours and sometimes all I did was sleep upon arrival. But even the sleep was different there because there were no radios, phones, televisions, no ambient thoughts of frustration and exasperation…only a desk, a pad and a pencil. I marveled at how intentional I had to be every month to even have a chance of getting there, how I had to say no to so many things to end up in the quiet place. I remember passing on it one month because the homie invited me to a poker game. The world is fast my friends and noisy. You gotta be “stomach-growlin’ hungry” to find quiet in your life. I ended up doing 6 out of 12 that year and that was the first and last year I’ve ever done something of that nature. It was the first and last time I calculated a “slow down” in a short lifetime that’s gotten anything but easier and anything but calmer. This weekend I’ll be revisiting what I wanted to start in 2002 by attending a silent day event hosted by an non-profit called Renewed Living Ministries. More to come.