I've owed this post to you for a long time. Way back in November - like, in the BT days (Before Trump) - I travelled to Athens, Greece with about two dozen other North American women who live and work in Europe. This is the second such spiritual retreat I've been on, where you awake to sounds of the ocean, spend a good portion of the day journalling and/or weeping openly, and laugh until your sides hurt with women you've only just met.
Last time, we were in the Costa Brava area of Catalonia, Spain (which was simply stunning), but this time we were in Vouliagmeni, Greece on the Athenian Riviera.
The most important thing I should probably tell you about a trip like this is that it isn't all spas and swimsuits (though there were some late night dips in the Aegean). These retreats are more like spiritual workshops, with an emphasis on connecting with God and one another. We worship and pray together, laugh and eat together, and share with one another in the spirit of imago dei: we reflect the image of God to each other, and we name it, honour it, and explore it. We also spend a good deal of time on our own, journaling or resting or doing whatever it is our spirits - and our bodies - need. Sometimes that's a nap, other times it's a very dark, very strong cappuccino freddo.
We also spent one glorious afternoon and evening in Athens, exploring some of the sites and relics that have so haunted our worldview and our faith. Some of the more neighbourly facades in Athens felt more Parisian than I'd expected, with terraces and flourishes adorning windows and doors all along the pedestrian boulevards.
And we ate. Sweet Lord, oh how we ate. I have to tell you that "gyro" just doesn't do justice to the souvlaki I inhaled without a second thought. The food in Greece was absolutely sublime: rich, fresh and sweet.
In many ways, Athens reminded me of the trip I took to Israel at the ripe old age of 19. The landscape seemed to prod and prompt me, shouting, "See, see? It's all true!" And for a Christian lady who feigns uninterest in the Acts of the Apostles, standing atop Mars Hill overlooking the rooftops of this ancient city filled me with an otherworldly longing.
“It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.
The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?”
So that's as brief of an overview of my time in Greece that I could attempt. It was definitely a bucket-list destination, and I highly recommend a visit -- for the food, if nothing else! (did I mention fried feta, filo pastry and honey? Yummm....)
