I thought I would step outside to see if the stars are brighter in rural Florida. But I was too late--we're already at the pre-dawn time. I stood on the covered walkway outside my door and leaned on the railing to listen to the birds waking up. It's not surprising to find that morning birdsong is different here in a rural part of Florida, between Gainesville and Ocala.
I decided not to walk this morning, at least not before it's light. There are no paved paths here at Luther Springs, the church camp where I will be at a women's retreat this week-end. Plus it's supposed to be raining, but so far, it's not.
It's a long trip here for such a short retreat. But I wanted to make the effort. It's likely to be one of the last times I have a chance to go on retreat with church friends from South Florida. And the whole reason I'm here is because one of those friends invited me specifically.
We rode up in an old minivan, which I find a comfortable way to travel. But more importantly, it has enough space for my friends to transport all their instruments. They are the music for the retreat, and I am the roadie. Happily, the acoustics in the new chapel are so good that we didn't need to unpack the amps and heavier equipment.
During the ride up, my friends practiced the music that they will lead for the week-end, and I practiced scrolling lyrics with the iPad. Later in the evening, I was able to help by taking care of the projection to a large screen so that people could sing along.
And they did sing along. The acoustics in the new chapel are marvelous for large groups singing, less perfect for individual singers and conversation.
We sang in the car too. There was a moment when I thought about how much I loved being in a car, driving up I 95, singing "Amazing Grace" and "There Is a Balm in Gilead" with friends who won't critique my singing. I do think that I sing better with good voices around me, but maybe it's just that I can't hear myself.
In terms of the purpose for the retreat, I think that I will like the quilt retreat and Create in Me retreat better. It's strange to be at a women's retreat in a time where I'm underemployed and all of my family members are in good health and fairly self-sufficient. In short, I'm not the frazzled, time-starved mess that many women's retreats assume that we all are. I'm interested to see how this plays out.
We've had one group session which had small groups where I asked, "But what if God isn't the GPS system? What if God is the friend in the car, going with us to the unexpected places, saying 'OK, if you want to head to the Mississippi River, we'll go there together. Let's explore what that would look like.'" For more on that, see this blog post on my theology blog.
Even if the dominant theology at this retreat doesn't always mesh with mine, I'm glad to be here. And let's be honest, much of my professional life going forward will involve engaging differences in theology.
I'm glad to be here, practicing to sing a new song.
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