Invitation to Retreat

In returning and rest you will be saved.

There has never been a time when the invitation to retreat is so radical and so relevant, so needed and so welcome. It is not a luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual live.

Transforming Center founder and seasoned spiritual director Ruth Haley Barton gently leads us into retreat as a key practice that opens us to God. Based on her own practice and experience leading hundreds of retreats for others, she will guide you in a very personal exploration of retreat. You will discover how to say yes To God's winsome invitation to greater freedom and surrender.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: an Interlude follows Chapters 3, 7 and 10

Strategic Withdrawal
Just Flop Down
The Sources of Our Exhaustion
Finding Your Rhythm on Retreat
Sweet Hours of Prayer
Letting Go of Your Grip
Relinquishing False-Self Patterns
Space for Discernment
Invitation to Recalibrate
Finding Spiritual Freedom
Remember the Signs
In Returning and Rest You Shall be Saved

Gratitudes

Appendix 1: Fixed-Hour Prayer

Appendix 2: Planning Your Retreat

ENDORSEMENTS:

From her insightful analysis of just what is making us so tired, to her incredibly inviting description of ' strategic withdrawal,' to the practical retreat materials ans suggestions, this book might be the first thing you pack for your next retreat - Jim Martin, International Justice Mission.

I was unprepared for such practical, honest, and open insights into the spiritual discipline of retreat. If we're serious about true spiritual transformation, I would encourage all of us to explore God's invitation to get away, rest, and reflect through the pages of this book. - Santiago "Jimmy" Mellado, Compassion International.

Practical guidance and astonishing insight into the physical, psychological, and spiritual dynamics of intentional solitude. - Mark Scandrette, coauthor of Free and Belonging & Becoming.