The Diocesan Dialogue
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March 2007

Winterlight

Junior High Winter Retreat January 27-28 at Camp Tuttle

By Karen Cramer Van Winkle

While much of the state of Utah was locked in belowfreezing temperatures and murky skies in one of the nastiest inversions in recent memory, a group of 14 youth from 6 different parishes were greeted with beautiful blue skies and sunny weather when they arrived at Camp Tuttle on Jan. 27 for the junior high winter retreat.

With our lungs free from the valley smog, we had a great time snow shoeing, sledding, playing games in the lodge, warming up by the fireplace with hot chocolate and s’mores, and burying each other in the snow. Part of the group even traveled to Brighton for an afternoon of skiing and snowboarding.

Our theme for the weekend came from Matthew’s Gospel: "Let your light shine before others..." (Matthew 5:16). What causes the darkness that we see in our hurting and often broken world? How do we contribute to the darkness around us without noticing it? And how can we help to shine a light into the world around us?

When we thought about it, each of us had to admit that there were times we didn’t let our own lights shine and actually made the world a darker place. At some point, each of us had said something behind someone else’s back, been pretty rotten to our parents and siblings, or had a really rotten attitude (we are human after all). And we all knew how awful we felt when others had treated us poorly.

Luckily, we all could think of ways that we had made a positive difference to others as well: when we offered friendship to someone at school who gets teased, when we shared the things that make us unique instead of hiding our gifts from the world, when we did the dishes without being asked, or when we listened to a friend that was going through a hard time.

One of the most memorable moments of the weekend for me came on Saturday night when everyone bundled up and went for a moonlight snowshoe walk to a nearby meadow. We left our flashlights off and hoped our eyes would adjust to the darkness. With few clouds in the sky and the moon shining, the night was amazingly bright. When we reached the meadow, we lay down in the snow in silence for at least 10 minutes, enjoying the peace and beauty of the night.

When we reflected on the walk later, many people said they were surprised how light it was, especially in a place that we expected to be so dark. That night we found that even in the darkest places, light can find a way to shine powerfully if we look.

We continued the idea of spreading light into the darkness with a short prayer service. There was a map of the world, one large lit candle, and lots of small unlit candles gathered around the edges.

We spent about 10 minutes in silence, looking at the map and thinking of all the places in the world in need of prayer and healing. We took turns lighting candles and placing them on the map until every corner of the earth was covered in light.

We offered prayers for people and places around the world, in hopes that God’s light could reach into the darkest corners of our planet and prayed for the strength to reach out and help those in need.

In the end, we recognized that we can each play a role in spreading that light in our own families, schools, churches, and around the world. May God grant us the grace and wisdom to rise to the challenge. Amen.

Karen Cramer Van Winkle is Diocesan Youth Ministry Coordinator

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