TrueTube Retreat in LaPorte

TrueTube? That was the question we pondered at the youth retreat in LaPorte. Ten teens gathered at Manna House over the weekend in late October to look at and discuss video created by teens or concerning relevant teen issues and/or spirituality. We explored how popular culture relates to Swedenborgian theology and considered how closely this reality matches our own personal experience. Prior to the retreat, I spent several days scouring YouTube for interesting, relevant retreat-worthy topics to view with teens. I ended up finding about 25 videos that I sorted into 5 topics (God, religion, the afterlife, life’s big questions, and interfaith music). The videos represented a wide cross-section of culture. They varied greatly – some serious, some funny; some animated, some photographic; some scripted and acted, some spontaneous improv. It was extremely enlightening to view popular video on these subjects. I learned a lot. When I searched for “God” and “religion” I was particularly surprised at how much and how popular anti-religion and anti-God commentary was. But, for the most part, the God that was ridiculed was not the God the I worshiped and the religion that was attacked was not what I believed.

We spent the weekend retreat doing mini-sessions, where we would watch a video and then discuss it. In between sessions, we visited a funky coffee house, played Catch Phrase, hung out and talked, or listened to music. Vince spent much of his time drawing pictures of me on his notepad as various animate and inanimate objects. He managed to fill the whole book. Very funny. I can’t pick a favorite, but I like Kurt as a microwave, Kurt as a rainbow and Kurt if he were invisible. Since no one took any pictures (sorry about that) I thought I'd post a few here. I’ll try to remember to bring the pad to winter retreat so you can see them all. On Saturday night we had a big movie party with loads of popcorn and candy. We watched three movies, White Noise 2, Fired Up and What Dreams May Come, until 3 am. Most everyone fell asleep at some point during the movies. We awoke Sunday morning just in time to run over to the church to catch the beginning of the worship service. Then we headed downstairs to do one last session where we were joined by Ashley and Emily. For the last session we watched a series of short music videos on different faiths including; Tao, Hindu, Islam, Jewish, Christian and Native American. We closed with a prayer circle then said our goodbyes. Although we missed our friends from Michigan and Ohio, this retreat was great. You teens taught me quite a bit and I had a wonderful time. I hope that you found something valuable to take back home with you too. If you discover anything interesting on YouTube that you think might be nice to share with your SCYL friends pass me the link. Thanks.