Article October 27, 2003 Issue

give me a break!

By Barbara Weigt

When I Returned Recently from a week spent with family (including a really cute two-year-old grandchild) in another city, I suddenly felt physically and spiritually depleted—running on empty. All I could mutter was "Give me a break!" It wasn't the family visit that had done it. It was just the culmination of months of living at a frantic pace with little time for meditation, prayer, reading.

I longed for a spiritual retreat and envied friends and acquaintances who were sometimes able to take anything from three days to three months for retreats or sabbaticals. I would have settled for 24 hours—just to escape family and domestic responsibilities, clients' demands, telemarketers, and everything else.

As I began to pray about my desires, though, it occurred to me that I might be using the wrong word. Retreat often signals avoidance of the issues—an inward-looking, self-focused approach. A form of withdrawal.