Spiritual Formation Retreat

I spent the last few days at Camp Agape located in Fuquay Varina, North Carolina. I, along with 20 other Campbell Divinity classmates participated in a spiritual formation retreat focused on listening. We participated in different sessions in which we listened to ourselves, others, God, and nature. I can put the experience in only one word: AMAZING. All the sessions were wonderful but my favorite and most challenging was the session on listening to ourselves. We each had to share a story that was just about us. The main person of the story was the individual. It couldn't be focused on other individuals. This was challenging because many of my stories were about other people. The story I chose to tell surprised me, but it was one I had to tell. After each person told his/her story to the small group, the group was to reflect what they heard in the story. They couldn't ask questions but only reflect. It was amazing at how reflecting back really opened the story up and made it deeper. Things came from our stories we weren't expecting. It reminded me of CPE, but this was more personal. We were colleagues sharing very personal stories. I really believe it made us closer. We shared laughter and tears and we each saw one another's vulnerabilities.

The weekend continued with other activities including free time. During my free time, three other classmates and I ventured into the woods. It was great to let my guard down and relax. The walk was refreshing and beautiful. We came to a part of the river where it was shallow enough to walk out into the river on the rocks. It was nice. We also had times of worship and reflection throughout the day. It was similar to the eight offices of prayer that is similar to the Benedictine monks. We all took turns preparing meals and serving one another. It was a time of fellowship and reflection. I had the chance to get to know some of my classmates I didn't know. I made new friends and deepened existing friendships. Friday night, after everything was over, we had the chance to play games. It was fun and humbling to play Mexican Train with my friends and professors. We had lots of laughs that night.

I left Saturday with a bit of a heavy heart. It is hard to re-enter the real world after such a great experience. When I got home, I didn't want to turn on the t.v. or even check my email. I enjoyed and needed to do other things that didn't include technology. I was also kind of sad because my time at Campbell Divinity School is almost over. I'm not ready to leave that place. I will truly miss my classmates and professors. I've learned a lot from my time in Divinity School. I'm not sure what the future holds, but I am forever changed by the last three years at Campbell. Overall, I am grateful for this past weekend. I'm grateful for the time spent with people and professors I have come to cherish and respect.