On retreat in lockdown
For those in need of spiritual refreshment after a year of lockdowns, the idea of being on a retreat may not be immediately enticing. The thought of removing yourself from society to a quiet place where you can indulge in some self-reflection loses appeal when you have been stuck at home, with limited distractions and company, for so long already.
Yet it is that ‘forced retreat’ lockdown has meant for so many of us that has heightened our need to be refreshed and renewed, says the Revd Sally Harper, a prayer guide at St Beuno’s Jesuit Spirituality Centre, near St Asaph. Lockdown may have given us more time and space than we have ever had but it has also brought in its wake anxiety, depression, uncertainty and fear.