Silent Prayer Retreat Experience
4/28/03

           The first weekend of 2003, 15 of us from South Joplin Christian Church went on a Silent Prayer Retreat.  Of the total group, only three of us had ever had such an experience before.  The group consisted of both men and women, people from age 29 to 75.  Some were very excited, others were hesitant.  Some feared what they might find in the silence, others were more concerned about what wouldn't be present once things got quiet.  We came with different expectations and from different experiences.  And our experiences that weekend differed as well.  However, there was one thing we all held in common - to a person, each one met God in new ways and made a commitment to not let that be the only Silent Prayer Retreat we went on.  Rather, as we drove home the conversation centered on how soon we might be able to do it again.  I echo Jan in saying how important the experience of silent retreats is to our faith and to The Jesus Connection process.

            Let me share with you a poem that came from one of our folk who went on that retreat in January.  Late that Saturday night, Justin Jenkins (34) wrote these words:
 
SILENCE
 
In me, the silence started small
a dot that was almost unwilling to appear.
Like seeing someone at the end of a long, long hallway
who is standing still, not wanting to come near.
 
Then, slowly, the sounds started dying.
One by one, they all disappeared.
Until all that was left was the silence
and my head was thoroughly cleared.
 
Then a voice came out of the silence,
one I have heard many times before.
This time it was a thousand times louder,
as if from some hidden store.
 
He said, "I have been waiting
until you took the time
to slow your busy life down,
and open your heart and mind.
 
"Yes, you have heard Me before,
but only as a faint little whisper,
because of all the other things
that were keeping Me at a distance."
 
He told me that He loved me
and we talked of many things.
He helped me sort out some problems
that have been causing me great pains.
 
We talked for hours,
and the time flew by.
Then the end of the silence
started to draw nigh.
 
He said, "I love you,"
and asked me to promise
to make more time for Him
and not just in silence.
 
I promised that I would,
and I knew that is was true.
He smiled, and I believe,
that He believed it, too.
 
Without another word between us
the sounds began to reappear.
Life was going back to normal,
and the end was almost here.
 
At first, in the silence, I felt lost.
But, then God came through loud and clear.
My experience has been a good one,
and one that I will hold most dear.
 
But, is it really the end
or a new beginning in life?
I believe that I will take the latter
and no longer associate silence with strife.
 
 
        - Jill Cameron - South Joplin Christian Church, Joplin, MO