Last week I coordinated and led a retreat for our Seniors at the school I work at. It was really a team effort and we sort of divided and conquered the different activities.
These are senior GIRLS, so we sort of expect their maturity level to be a little on the higher side. For many of them this is completely true. There are a number AMAZING young women in this group of 110 eighteen year olds, and there is no doubt in my mind that these individuals will grow into compassionate, kind, fun, sincere, faith-filled adults!
But unfortunately some of them are not adept at the "adult like" stuff.
The theme for the retreat was "Exploring the Journey Inward" and we were inviting these girls to get to know themselves and GOD better, before they leave for college. I was on such a high after the retreat and I felt good about the activities and the talks that were presented. It seemed like many of them enjoyed some aspects of the retreat, and got the message. But then today I discovered that the overwhelming majority didn't like it, and didn't want to hear it.
OUCH. That sort of hurt.
EPIC FAIL by me.
Maybe I needed that lesson in humility though. Maybe I needed that little reality check that sharing God's love is not always going to be received graciously. Maybe I needed to realize that even JESUS himself was rejected by people, and maybe this was sort of what he felt like.
Now some of the critiques the Seniors offered are legitimate and can easily be received to improve next year's experience for those Seniors. But some of the comments were just down right depressing.
Without being specific many said they thought there was too much "God" and not enough bonding with each other. That just sort of made me sad. I didn't think "too much God" was possible. I can't get enough of him myself.
Anyway, I don't mean to sound deflated, sad, or depressed. I realize that I will never be able to PLEASE everyone, and although we are already working on some things we can do to make it more fun, or more appealing, taking GOD out of the retreat is not going to happen.
I do believe that many of these girls haven't really had the best faith foundation. Many are coming from families who might be Catholic in name, but not necessarily practicing their faith. Some are coming from families who don't have any faith life at home at all. We need to pray for these girls.
My real prayer however, is that a seed was planted. Maybe they didn't get it last week. Maybe even thought they think it was a waste of their time, maybe it wasn't. Maybe someday they will experience something, and it will take them back to last week. Maybe something one of us told them will give them a glimmer of hope that good things can come from knowing God. That's a lot of Maybes. But Maybe.
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