Before leaving for the Spiritual Rhythms Retreat, we had a series of sessions that discussed the overarching story of Scripture. Now I know that the story of the bible is not some new revelation. In fact, we had taken a similar class over the summer to prepare for the program in general. But this class, Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration, gave me a more in-depth view of the kind of life we were meant to live. David Blanchard, our professor on this topic, brought the biblical narrative to life in a way that our online classes did not.
The grand conclusion of this lesson was that we were made to live life in communion with God. In other words, we were meant for Shalom.
The level of detail David Blanchard captured was only the beginning. While at the retreat, we learned about different spiritual disciplines that help us live in line with Shalom. We learned about silence, solitude, celebration, meditation, and confession. However, even with the idea of Shalom and the practice of spiritual things, there was still a sort of monotony in the air. At least for me, the daily disciplines, while refreshing, didn’t seem extraordinary. In other words, I wasn’t feeling this magical shalom that I had learned about the week prior.
It was the last day of the retreat, there was one last mystery on the schedule, and everyone was trying to guess what it was. As I ate, the table was full of ideas and assumptions about what was going to happen that night. Eventually we loaded into vans, and off we went toward an unknown activity. Finally, the tension was broken when we arrived at an outlook that surveyed a beautiful landscape. But the view was not why we were there. The outlook was furnished with worship instruments and a folding table set with communion elements. As the sun set, we worshiped God through both song and sacrament. In this moment, I realized what I had been missing.
Shalom is not an ordinary word to be tossed around. It is a description of the way we are supposed to live in peace and harmony with God. But it is not just about gifts, it is also about purpose. Earlier in the retreat, we were instructed that these actions were not magical portals to God’s presence. In fact, they were never meant to be. We always have access to God thanks to Jesus’s sacrifice, but we often find ourselves simply basking in this gift instead of serving it. The whole point of Spiritual Disciplines is not to receive some epiphany or to gain a certain status. They are designed to take your mind off yourself and direct your attention toward God.
This is the way things are supposed to be. This is Shalom.
Judah Walston, Class of 2027
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