Slow Church

Sunlight warmed our bodies as we gathered in the chapel at Dominican University on a mild January afternoon. We were on retreat, and Sara Stevenson gave us instructions for a walking meditation.

In silence, we selected partners. Then, in pairs, we began to walk . . . verrrrrry slooooooowly. We quietly lifted one foot from the ground, raised our knee with dignity and deliberate attention to the pace of our partner, then with great care placed that foot back on the floor. Each step was slow and thoughtful. Instead of focusing on reaching our destination as quickly as possible, we concentrated on taking each step . . . one slow movement at a time.

Slow walking is a simple action, yet a spiritually profound one. It reminds us that there are some things God can teach us only very slowly, at a walking pace. God spent 40 years teaching the Israelites to depend upon divine guidance during their long exodus from Egypt. God spent 40 days teaching Jesus to listen in the desert before he began his ministry.

Theologian Kosuke Koyama says God teaches and walks slowly because God is love, and the speed of love is slow. It is attentive. It notices. Koyama says God walks three miles an hour because that’s the speed of our walking and God walks beside us in love.

Walk humbly with God. Match your pace with God’s pace. Slow down. Practice paying attention. Experience the power of divine slowing. Focus on each step, each moment. Have you noticed that good things take time?

Why did Jesus leave his friends to pray?

I've been planning for a one-day retreat all week, and every time I do this, I remember Jesus often "went off by himself to a quiet place to pray." The gospels frequently mention that Jesus slipped away to a mountaintop or a seashore to spend time talking with God.

For years I've thought it was because Jesus was holy that he was always going off alone to pray.

But sometimes I think the disciples were driving him crazy, and Jesus occasionally needed to get away from them just to maintain his sanity.

You know, that happens to me. I'll be spending time with family members whom I love, or friends whom I treasure, and then all of a sudden they will say something that really sets me off. And so I go off by myself and try to recover. Usually after a few minutes or a few hours, I calm down and feel more reasonable and can approach the person I love with grace and peace. Then everything is fine.

Could it be that Jesus was just as human? I hope so.

No wonder we need retreats now and then. We need the perspective, to be better friends and lovers.