Every person, especially every woman, should be alone some time during the year, some part of each week, and each day. Anne Morrow Lindbergh in Gift from the Sea Anne Morrow Lindbergh was talking about the need of each woman to find the time and space to retreat into her inner self for renewal, restoration, rediscovery and reawakening. A retreat is a spiritual discipline that can help us center ourselves in the God that is within each of us.
Retreats can last several days or three minutes.
They can mean going away to a new physical space or a turning toward inward space. A retreat allows an individual to examine feelings, needs and desires without being bombarded with those of others. A retreat allows time free of the demands of others. Retreating has been a part of women s lives for many centuries. Ruth as she gleaned in the fields, Mary and Elizabeth as they prepared for their children, Jephthah s daughter in her two-month retreat to the mountains before her death.