We're heading to Cape May, New Jersey. See Location; Overview; and Application at the left for more information.
We hope every year that our retreat will allow us space to recreate our spiritual selves. In taking ourselves out of our daily responsibilities for a short time, we imitate the holy men and women of scripture who went to a quiet place to meditate and pray for wisdom and new understanding. We welcome God's intervention to show us truths about our lives. We believe that it is our responsibility to worship the Lord with every new day, and we believe that is is also our responsibility to find renewal when our devotion dims.
There's a song called "When My Love to Christ Grows Weak." The words are below; if you've never read it or sung it, it's worth learning. The writer, John R. Wreford, writes that when his faith weakens, he takes himself to the garden where Jesus spent time in prayer before his crucifixion. There, his spirit is renewed in gratitude and glad self-sacrifice, and his love for man is similarly renewed. When we consciously allow our hearts and minds to be remade by Christ's influence, sacrifice and the resulting hardships become joy. Each year, we hope to accomplish this-- really, we hope to accomplish it each day.
When my love to Christ grows weak
When for deeper faith I seek,
Then in thought I go to thee,
Garden of Gethsemane.
There I walk amid the shades
While the lingering twilight fades
See that suffering, friendless One,
Weeping, praying there alone.
When my love for man grows weak,
When for stronger faith I seek,
Hill of Calvary, I go
To thy scenes of fear and woe.
There behold His agony,
Suffered on the bitter tree;
See His anguish, see His faith,
Love triumphant still in death.
Then to life I turn again,
Learning all the worth of pain,
Learning all the might that lies
In a full self sacrifice.