April Article for the Broadstreeter Newsletter...
A few weeks ago I attended a Young Adult retreat located on the
Western slope of Pike’s Peak. The weather was beautiful, the views
magnificent and even though our van managed to get stuck on the side
of the mountain the retreat was a great experience. (We had to call
the camp director to come help us get our van unstuck, which he did
very successfully.)
The theme of the retreat was talking about what makes up our faith as
a community and how four specific components establish our individual
faith. Those components are Rituals, Spiritual, Community and
Lifestyle. The weekend started off with discussions about Rituals of
our faith and which ones we connected to or experienced God the most.
As we moved into deeper discussion I began to realize that it doesn’t
matter which of those four pieces an individual relates to the best.It
is more a matter of understanding and accepting yourself, and knowing
there is no right or wrong. Once you accept yourself then you can
challenge yourself in your faith to grow the other areas. By beginning
the conversation with the discussion about rituals, which is one of
the parts that I connect with and experience God in the best, I was
able to see the interrelatedness of all four. Being able to recognize
what kinds of rituals I connect with the most has led me to discover
ways to grow my Spiritual side (which we defined as our personal
relationship with God). I have recognized the importance of personal
time to spend in relationship with God.
The one message that all 30 Young Adults left the retreat with is the
recognition that we may all have a different ways of experiencing God
and expressing that but being able to understand that allows us to
accept that we are all “wonderfully and fearfully made,” just the way
God intended.
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