Retreat

The spiritual retreat this weekend was really great. Going into it, I knew everyone relatively well, or at least I knew their names anyways. But with the retreat in my rear view mirror, I know that I've come away with deeper relationships with many people who were there, and although I use the image of seeing the retreat in the rear view mirror, I know that I will be continuing my journey with the people, memories and discussions that I've been blessed to experience this weekend.

Since I'm lazy, here's a real quick summary from my vantage point:

* I really had a great time hanging out with Jason. Compared to many of the other people who were at the retreat, he was perhaps one of the few people I didn't know all that well. But after this weekend, I must say that I really like this guy. Of course, that's meant in the most platonic way possible, but it's so great to have spent the weekend with another fellow non-married, easy going, and tremendously beautiful guy. (I think I share 2 of the 3 above descriptions, and I'll let you, the reader, decide which ones they are.)

* I absolutely stink at bowling. We went bowling together on Saturday and I don't think my combined scores from both games broke 100. I don't think they even broke 90. I'm pathetic. And to make things worse, I have my own bowling shoes!! Picture this: Someone who has his own bowling shoes, but is a terrible bowler. Can you imagine the amount of mockery I received? I think I need bowling lessons, or at the very least, a new pair of bowling shoes.

* I think Louise is a lot of fun. Her and I had a pretty rough relationship, mostly because I act like a complete imbecile around her. But during the course of this weekend, I offered up a truce and asked if we could be friends. After much resistance and several bribes of toffee and star fruit, she gave in. She is very smart, witty, pleasant, and loves to smile and laugh. Thanks Louise for deciding to be my friend!!!!

* For the entire weekend, we spent our time looking at Luke 10:1-12. From this passage, we talked about a variety of different topics that ranged from community to globalization to missional ecclesiology. A great thing about having a retreat with 9 people is that we could pretty much say whatever we wanted, and this is what happened. A lot of ground was covered, a lot of thoughts were unveiled, a lot of feelings were shared, and I believe God was the center point of everything. Although it was a retreat, I believe that it was more than just about us. Actually, if a retreat merely amounts to a weekend of self-satisfaction with no greater good, then we should've just stayed home and made origami swans. All the models of the early church fathers and the monastic movement painted a picture of people leaving, but bringing something back for the good of the people. And I believe it wasn't until our current model individualism that things began to be less about us and more about me.

With that said, I'm really looking forward to seeing how this weekend impacts the FRWY community, how it impacts the Beasley neighborhood, and how the ripples of this weekend will affect the landscape as we know it, from Hamilton and beyond.

* To all my fellow retreaters: Pernell, Kathy, Jen, Amber, Miranda, Jason, Melissa and Louise, thanks for the great talks, the fun memories, and challenging discussion. I love you all, and look forward to journeying deeper and further into this little blip of eternity we call life.