Overwhelmed With Wonder

I was overwhelmed with wonder many times at Journey (a youth group retreat I took every year in high school). From the brisk winter mornings where we rose with the sun to praying by candlelight. Maybe the most sacred moments was the offertory and the Grand Silence. During the offertory someone would go up and explain what they were throwing in the fire. During my four Journeys I threw several pieces of paper in as well as a pill bottle. One guy put inn a football. People spoke about family issues, relationships, academic/ college pressure. Afterwards we went outside and burned all the items that could be burned safely (the football was punted across the lake. 

There was ice so it was still sitting there the next morning on the way to breakfast). Another time I was overwhelmed by wonder was the Grand Silence. Silence for a full hour to contemplate our lives and our relationship with God. And nature. We were free to wander the grounds in the cold January air. I liked the cold. It distracted me from unpleasant truths I had been running from. But you can’t always run from the 

I remember the Disney retreat at Scranton. That had been fun (I had been in the Tangled group) but it forced me to confront my newfound sobriety. The grounds were beautiful, also on a lake (God just has a thing about lakes). There was a chapel and I went in there when they told us to fan out and write letters to ourselves. I have the wonder  and the letter.