The Lord’s Prayer: time to reflect – By Margaret Cayzer with Marg van Maanen and Helen Rowlands
Such familiar words, and yet have you had time recently to think deeply, to ponder their meaning and to wonder about how to respond to them? The women’s retreat provided time to step aside from our busy world for an afternoon to do just that. Women from Palm Beach, Burleigh and Robina parishes met at Robina for an afternoon of quiet prayer and personal contemplation.
Curated by Rev Mary-Anne Rulfs with a team of 10 women, a series of spaces in and around the church were set up to help guide us through aspects of the prayer given by Jesus to his disciples. There was no agenda or expectation for pace and outcome, or even the order in which to visit the spaces, just peaceful music, the low murmur of voices and time to think, reflect and pray. As we moved around participating in the spaces we were encouraged to take as long or short as time as we needed, to pause, think and pray as the Holy Spirit prompted.
Each space gave opportunity to use our senses: by responding in multifaceted ways we are able to bring in to focus an aspect of the prayer for meditation, articulate an unformed thought, bring to the front of our mind an issue that has been bubbling away in the background, take time to pray deeply for someone who is on our heart ….
Our father … beautiful artwork to meditate on, to ponder, to consider what heaven may be like and the character of the father. Interacting with a plasma ball helped to focus on connection, some sketching of your ideas.
Your kingdom come on earth…a globe on which to place sticky notes identifying places of particular interest or concern for you, multicultural items such as a set of Russian dolls, Lego buildings representing political power (a castle, the White House) candles to light as you offered a prayer for a country, region, political situation, natural disaster etc.
Give us today our daily bread… a table laden with symbols of home and with reminders of the Jewish Passover, some time to contemplate how we are nurtured physically and spiritually, a guide to writing a poem of gratitude and a taste of some Challah – delicious traditional bread eaten on Jewish holy days.
Forgive our sins as we forgive … meditate on Psalm 139: “Search me and know my heart” Rocks placed in the font filled with water as representations of sins being forgive, of washing clean, of forgiving others.
Save us from the time of trial…. Time to place some deep and personal concerns before God, by writing names on a sticky note, by snapping a glow stick, by contemplating the protective elements of the armour of God and writing a prayer and giving it to God symbolically, by placing it in a box near the light sources of a candle and a lava lamp.
For yours is the kingdom…enjoy the sun and the breeze on the veranda, contemplate the intricacy of a flower, place some flowers in a heart shaped wreath, embellish a card, take a mini bouquet and pause before the cross and respond.
Amen! … Do a little guided physical exercise and some meditation, raise your arms, listen to the music, breathe and relax, sit in the fresh air and know God is near. Amen, I agree, yes, this is trustworthy and true.
And there was afternoon tea of delicious cakes and savories in the Narthex provided by some of the Palm Beach crew. This became a space to pause, perhaps to chat and connect, or to sit quietly for a time between engaging with the various spaces, or to enjoy at the end before heading home.
A number of ladies wrote to say how much they loved the retreat. One comment received a few days after was: “I am still dwelling in the lingering beauty of the retreat. I am so thankful for that wonderful ministry”.
Participants in the retreat were rested, restored, and spiritually replenished.
With every blessing,
Margaret, with Helen and Marg