Take me to my healer….

The Young Adults Retreat 2007

By Mary Eissa

If I was to sum up the conference shared in one word it would be Reflection. Reflection hints at both action and stillness, in my mind the essence of God, and each and every person who attended partook in these manifestations of God.

From the bustling and excitement of an overdue Reunion, involving competitive go-kart racing (with scandalous rigging) to smoke and laughter induced by lamb ‘a la’ Sam on the barbeque; from the nervous shuffles of Popcorn after a repeating Indian, set in a delicate ambience, through a film that gripped the fears of some, whilst merely amusing others to pizza for breakfast, and plenty more chaos to please the most restless of souls… not mentioning any names, the whole weekend was filled with a vibrant energy that reflected the passion of joy shared by travellers who were finding their way home.

The talks from the offset, the first of which was delivered by Basem, struck at the heart of our dilemma today: Life or Death…to face the stillness of our minds and choose. Lost in the wilderness, we are all hiding our candles, fooled by the conditioning that the world brings to us. We fear rebuke and judgement, but do not listen to the knocking of the heart reminding us simultaneously in each second that death is near but that Christ is still knocking. The Silence spoke volumes. It was the wake-up call that we all needed to realise we can not have one foot in each door anymore. God is in the present and presence is Love.

As always, Sayedna Anba Angaelos’ talks moved us and reminded us of our responsibility towards each other. Our struggle for the Kingdom is not ours alone, if we would have the courage to admit this to each other. We are all part of that drop in the Ocean that can cause tidal waves if we let it. On the reverse of this we have a duty to each other to teach and to Love unconditionally, the way our Christ taught us to Love. When one falls his brother may too fall, like a row of tumbling Dominoes crashing to the floor. Let us help each other reveal our single ‘I’. He also reminded us that our journey was always guided by our loving God; even at the darkest and most difficult of times, He is our pillar of fire through the wilderness of life.

Following from this Rania and David pointed out to us very aptly that to do this, we must find the ‘spiritual in all the worldly.’ Simply speaking, we can do this just by allowing God to seep into our every consciousness. If we see this as a burden or as a chore it will be that…but we must simply ‘be’ who we are and bear your cross with pride. Often we will find that others want desperately to share their spirituality too and find peace with themselves and us.

To finish A sincere ‘thank you’ for Sayedna, Marianne, Lama, Raymond and all those who helped them, who ensured a smooth and profound weekend of reflection that offered a Haven from the bustle of our every day life.