I’ve been on blog hiatus, to be sure. Between the pastoral work in the parish and a long overdue retreat, I’ve been out of the blogging habit for the better part of three weeks now. For the next few posts I’m going to share some thoughts and learnings from these past weeks, specifically my time away on retreat.
I made my first visit to the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, MA last week. For those unfamiliar, SSJE is an Anglican Order founded in England. The house in Cambridge sits on the banks of the Charles River just a block or two from Harvard Square.
I was a bit intrigued by how being on retreat would be different in an urban setting. I have always, until now, made retreat in more remote places where the quiet about permeated everything. Both have their advantages, but at least for now, I’m reaping the benefits of the urban setting as it relates to parish ministry.
Typically, I’ve found re-entry into the rhythm of the parish a bit jarring after being on retreat. This time it was less so. I think that maybe that’s because the ‘circle of quiet’ at SSJE stands in such stark contrast to the busy-ness surrounding it. With Harvard and all that entails just up the street and the gates of the monastery opening onto the very busy Memorial Drive, there was no way to imagine that the world was afar off.
Unlike some other monasteries I’ve visited, worship at SSJE has a public quality. As the time for worship approaches all sorts and conditions of folks wander in off the street. There are students, homeless folks, faculty and staff of institutions nearby and a number of other professionals who gather around the rhythm of worship in this place. They gather before worship and one of the brothers opens the gates and folks take their place in worship with the brothers, staff, employees and retreatants.
For the 20 minutes and more that we engaged in the ancient rhythm of worship, the world was distant but not out of mind, for we engaged the realities of being in the world but not of it along with the Society that takes seriously its place apart for the sake of the world. Are our churches really called to be any different?
Next up (maybe tomorrow), some thoughts on silence, and being quiet in the midst of a bustling college neighborhood.
