Come Away with Me…
Retreat often.
You gave me a gift last weekend.
A place to lay down my burden.
You took my hand and unwrapped the tension coiled inside me.
Moving and shifting the elasticity of life that on most days I feel but can’t name.
The unraveling and unwrapping of tension resembled something like a surgery or procedure. When hands reach within to remove something that is no longer serving the body. A burden lifted. Removed. Exchanged. Hands that impart compassion and kindness.
I can’t remember the last time I had an entire weekend unplanned. This emptying and laying down burdens and breathing deeply. Hour after hour. A setting where a song has time to be written. Where birds are witnessing the greening of earth. And calm seeps in slowly around the windows of the soul. Putting our system at ease into release and surrender.
The system, all the systems where burdens build and find cooperation. Where it’s easy to pour on more tasks or duties. Say yes often. Offer all you have without being considerate of self. Without fully loving you.
We understand that the elasticity of life can break or wear thin before we get the chance to lay down the heaviness.
the loneliness.
the sadness.
the grief.
the longing.
the ache.
the secret…
We don’t have three hours or three full days to lay it all down. We tell ourselves we don’t have time. Later. When things slow down. When I have less to do.
But Jesus taught us what can happen in three days even when the situation looks like death. Feels like death.
You taught me to…
Come away…
You gave it to me,
I received it.
You invited me to experience rest,
I received it.
You showed me how my heart beats for what I love,
That you are love
I received it.
You offered me droplets of joy that anointed my spirit,
I received this.
You balanced the way I hear your words… like rain on a tin roof,
I received it.
You planted a small seed in my soul
a garden for me to water
a place for altars when I need to remember,
I received it.
You washed me with divine closeness and
I felt the ease of what you meant when you said,
‘My yoke is easy, my burden his Light…’ Come away with me,1
I followed.
I closed each day of the weekend retreat with the newly revised single by Nora Jones, “Come away with me…”
I have it on repeat and listen to it most days now, every chance I get to come away with Divine Closeness…Presence… Spirit… the voice of the one calling…
… following Her on a cloudy day… the yellow grass… on a mountain top… under the moon… and I’ll never stop loving you.2
Come away with me…
And then yesterday… I spent time with a dear friend of twenty-nine years. I shared my retreat journey with her and also listened to how life is holding and expanding her at the moment.
She has walked, talked, and cared for my heart.
My joys.
My burdens.
She has seen the highs and the lows. The Dead Sea scrolls of my own being and the cave markings that have been etched over time.
The ones that caused me to doubt.
The ones that caused sacred turnings.
Some that are still buried in a cave of remembrance.
I listened to her share about her upcoming retirement in ministry. The peace she has been given about the closing of a season and the liminal space of what is ‘not yet.’ Peace that replaces burden when we learn to ‘come away’ and follow Spirit.
I asked her specifically to share with me and remind me of three significant markers from her story and journey.
Things that felt like burdens that eventually became release for her.
We walked down the places she had journeyed that I have experienced with her.
Her call to ministry.
Her ordination into the Anglican tradition.
Her decision to leave the Anglican Church and follow where Spirit was leading her.
Her decision to listen to Spirit over the past 25 years in ministry.
What I wanted to hear from her… needed to hear from her was her story for how she held the burden, not knowing how long to hold it, before releasing it.
How she struggled to find support from a denomination she felt called to serve.
How she walked through another door and found release. Release and invitation to continue her call into ministry. The welcoming compassion of Spirits voice.
How Spirit impressed her to lean in even further to her calling for freedom as a woman in ministry.
An invitation to share her created design, spiritual attunement and openness with Holy Spirit.
I realized again after talking with her that we are all called… we are all given a deeper longing from Spirit to align and integrate Her Presence into our lives and work… we are called to remind others that they too are called to come away, to retreat often. To experience the ‘easy yoke and lightness’ of coming away even if for a few sacred minutes.
We are called to release. To retreat often.
To come away on mountain tops where we are kissed and known by love.
To surrender to the flow that we do not control, but often only sense and understand (sometimes) as we look back over time.
To be able to see how burdens became an exit point for release.
To hear the voice and the song of the one calling.
To retreat often.
To follow where She leads.
Come away with me…
What song is speaking to you as you pause or retreat?
When was your last one, two, or three day retreat?
Are you searching for more knowledge or to retreat more often?
When does ‘self-emptying’ happen for you?
What burden, loneliness, grief or decision was released as you made time to ‘Come Away…?
Love and Light ~ Shelly
Jesus words to all who ‘Come Away.’ Matthew’s (S)tory Chapter 11. Second Testament.
Song by Nora Jones, Come Away with Me. April 7, 2026. Apple Music Studios
I treasure you friend. Spirit working and dwelling in you, around you, through you pouring out wisdom, light, and love. Beautiful post.