Chris' prayer: Steven Curtis Chapman's "The Mountain"

This song is a familiar refrain from many retreats' closing sessions:

The weekend, or week, or however long, has been great, and we've experienced some really neat things here. We have encountered God in a very real and very new way. He has shown us how much He loves us through every other person here, through the music, through nature. It's been awesome.

But now we need to go back home. And in a couple days or a week or a month, the retreat high we're experiencing will die. Life will get in the way and everything will return to normal.

It is my least favorite part of a retreat: the hangover. Sitting at home, rather apathetic, just remembering how great the retreat was, and how much I wish I could just stay there forever. But the retreat refrain, and this song, are right. We can't just hang out on the mountain forever. We need to get back to the rest of the world, get our hands dirty, and change things. We need to affect those around us with the love we encountered. We need to be the retreat for those who weren't on the retreat.

Gosh, I can't wait for the next retreat.

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