Everybody benefits from a break now and then.  Though ancient Greeks enculturated a multi-day springtime “awakening” tradition, our American custom of spring break began in the late 1930s when a coach from frigid upstate New York took his Colgate swimmers to Florida to gain Olympic-style training in warmer climate.  Similarly, professional baseball teams from Philadelphia and Washington were the first to conduct spring training in Florida as far back as the 1880s.  When winter hits hard, we desire a break from it and want the warmer season to spring forth sooner.  Fifty years ago, taking a break in March was unique to college students but now it is common for students of all grades and for many people who are not students at all.  Most sojourners head to beaches but some are drawn to mountains, deserts, or lakes.  Most want to recreate or rest, yet others go to designated places to volunteer, assisting needy souls through organized projects.  Whatever the destination, spring break is a time to retreat—to withdraw, shrink back, or step away from normal routines and daily work—at a time when expectations seem overwhelming.

The Gospels contain plenty of stories telling us that Jesus retreated when things got overwhelming, when people were pressing in, when He was overworking, losing sleep, and sacrificing healthy habits.  He withdrew to get rejuvenated, replenished, and revitalized in His vocation and reoriented toward His mission.  Like us in middle America, He went to the sea, to the hills and mountains, desert, or lake.  In communing with nature like we do, He also communed with God who created it all.  Each time, He experienced a reawakening.  I hope that some of us are likewise reawakened to God’s presence in the magnificent cathedral of creation.

A retreat is a timeout that allows us to regroup and rethink a situation, to consider various factors before advancing.  It is a common term in military battles in which one side retreats to assess circumstances.  In one of Jesus’ parables, He speaks of a king who plans to battle an opponent but realizes that his ten thousand troops don’t stack up well against the rival’s twenty thousand troops.  He suggests that a retreat is in order to consider other terms of engagement or negotiation.  As we know on the courts of March Madness, when the opposition overwhelms, a timeout gets called.  Some games permit us to huddle in between plays to plan, discuss, or strategize what is working and what is not.  These breaks-in-the-action are forms of retreat.  They allow us to gain perspective as we seek to advance in our mission.  Daily prayer, walks, or other kinds of meditation serve a similar intent.

Retreating allows us to advance, much as a timeout permits us to assess and adjust plans for better outcomes, or a huddle gives us the opportunity to design a strategy, or morning prayer helps us to tackle the day ahead, or spring break occurs to renew our semester’s goals.  They all point us toward victorious endeavors.  Christianity has held spring training for over 2,000 years—we call it Lent.  As we enjoy spring break this year, let’s consider how the days of Lent can serve us in our spiritual awakening: find a different routine one day, experience a new environment one afternoon, make an unusual determination about the day ahead one morning, spend time amidst nature one sunset, step under a star-filled sky one night.  Step back to view things in a new way.  It might be the retreat or break that we need this spring.