MY RETREAT, MY NEWLY ACQUIRED HEARTBEAT
A five day experience that has made me feel as if I am staying in a five-star hotel has been none other than this retreat .Yes, I must say that I 
desperately needed a treat especially with all the chains of trouble binding me but the treatment I have got from this retreat has surely got me healed.
The meditation every morning got me in touch with myself if not the whole of me. I got to realize how many times we take Gods creation for granted – the birds of the air, the silence around, and most of all ourselves. Actually, getting to embrace the sound of silence was my greatest achievement. It got me thinking-wasn’t God really smart to have the world full of silence before creation? Was it senseless that the world was void and shapeless long before our gracious Lord shared himself by creating us in his image and giving us His breath of life? Well, I got the answer. Silence was there before me; thus it should live with me. Therefore, after my great realization the morning meditation renewed me and refreshed my whole body but mostly helping me realize the sense of God’s actions towards us.
The songs, oh the songs! How at peace my heart and mind was. Truly, singing is worship twice. My soul was put together with the words empowering and strengthening me. I will for sure, stick to those songs for as long as I am, simply because they have now become a great part of me. Ever wondered why we forget some things yet we don’t do likewise with others? Well for at least I won’t wonder about forgetting the songs because not only are they stuck in my head but also their meaning imprinted all over my heart.
It is more human than inhuman to say that seeing is believing. Yes, I saw the movies played and frankly I came to believe, if not realize a lot of things. The essence of freedom, love, care and compassion for others among many are some of the virtues I synthesized from them. Seeing others’ lives being portrayed gave me the energy to draw mine in the same road too. Though I may do it in my own unique way one thing for sure is that my actions from now on will be those that please God-for He is master of all, and I should serve others positively in service to him.
How could I forget the sessions which actually took most time? Yes, they were very educative and inspiring, thanks to Fr Sebastian, learning how to handle my flow of life, how to relate with others and mostly how to keep up with the race of being God’s child surely made a remarkable difference in the whole of me.
Surely everything with a beginning has an end; maybe I should add that every end is the beginning of something else. As this retreat came to an end, I wasn't’t sad that I was parting with someone who had changed my life for the better, but happy and more than grateful for I know I had been left a task to do-to give others the same experience of a new heartbeat in their normal rhythm of life. THE WHOLE WORLD HERE I COME!
RACHAEL MURUGI MBOGO, ST ANNE’S LIOK
