The season is now changing in Edmonton, where I live. We are in the fall and winter is approaching. Swedenborg tells us that in the spiritual world there are also seasons. The angels go through the same four seasons we do. But the seasons there are governed by the states of the angels. They move through a pattern of greater love and clarity of wisdom, which is their summer, to a state of less love and more obscurity. There is a purpose and use for these changes of state. From a state of less love and wisdom, a person can appreciate and enjoy love and wisdom when they are more intense. The lower states also help to clarify what is good and what is less good, thereby making the understanding more aware of how to be good. This alternating process brings angels into a more keen sense of heavenly life and the love and wisdom of which it is composed. Swedenborg tells us that for the higher angels, the spiritual seasons are very mild. Kind of like the weather in Florida, I would imagine. Here in the material world, we are brought through similar states. We can watch our changing states if we are sensitive to our souls' migrations. We, too, can become more aware of love and wisdom as we consider our states in this life.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
2010 Columbus Day Teen Retreat at Blairhaven
The Columbus Day 2010 teen retreat at Blairhaven was.....an amazing collection of SCYL friends including a large group from the Midwest who braved a daring and challenging drive involving a broken down van named Clifford in Ohio and still finding a way to get all the way from Indiana to the East Coast, picking up teens along the way.
wickets and mallets on a sunny Saturday afternoon as the 2010 killer croquet tournament amused and confounded many.
engaging conversations, presentations and acting as everyone participated in the theme "Ages and Stages: Your Changing Roles in the Theater of Life."
sometimes a bit too muddy for me as the second annual mudfight happened for a brave few at sundown on Sunday night.
only a bit scary on brownie movie night as we watched the hilarious "Fired Up!" and the equally hilarious "Drag me to Hell" (nice movie for a church retreat, huh) which was slightly gross and a bit disturbing but quite humorous and not very scary.
magnificently bright and sunny for our outing to Duxbury beach for an hour at the ocean as several teens from the Midwest had never seen the sea.
exciting disco glow bowling, an inspirational teen led worship service, acting like babies and the elderly as Rev Kevin took us on a movement adventure through life, and eating, laughing, playing, and loving in community as only a SCYL retreat can do!
Thank you teens, ministers and leaders for an awesome retreat.
What Has That SCYL Director Been Up To Anyway?
Happy Halloween! Wow. has it really been a month since the last post. And "Where are the Blairhaven pictures?!", exclaims SCYL President Nina. Well, it really has been a month since the mast post and I really have tried to make sure that I post something to this blog at least once a week. It not that there aren't thing to write about. Truth be told, it is actually because there has been so much going on that I haven't have much time to write. So, I thought it might be nice for you to know what I have been doing when I'm not with you teens. I mean, haven't you always wondered what exactly the youth director does when he is not directing youth?
Well, it has been a very busy month for me and I am happy to tell you all the exciting things I have been doing. I'll skip all the really boring stuff, like doing the SCYL accounting, revising forms, writing and reading emails, updating mailing lists, sending out information and stuff like that. I'm guessing you're not interested in that. But there are a few things coming up that I am working on that you might like to know about.
First, I am prepping for a big trip out to San Diego to camp with the teens at Morena Lake State Park. Although I have camped and I have going to campgrounds with teens on a retreat, I've never really camped in a tent with teens before. And I've never camped in California in the desert mountains. It should be a great experience and I'm really excited to try out the night vision gear along with all the other fun things that go with camping. I hope that the local youth leaders will have Ramen noodles available. It just isn't camping to me without Ramen. And of course, S'mores. Celie will be joining me from the East and maybe Chris and possibly even Caleb too, as we gather with our West coast friends. I'm looking forward to seeing Jon again and meeting some new friends as well.
I've also been getting ready for the spooky Halloweeny Swedenborg candlelit Fryeburg youth group. We have chosen "Emanuel's Manuals" as our theme this year and we will be looking at a different book of written by Swedenborg each month. Of course, for Halloween we've got to read Heaven and Hell with an emphasis on spirits and demons! I'm looking forward to doing this by candlelight in the attic of the church. Ooooohhh, so scary.
I've been getting so excited for this year's Winter retreat at Almont. The flyers went in the mail yesterday. Look for your coming soon. If you are not on the mailing list or do not receive one in a week or so, please let me know. If you've read this far, you deserve a sneak peek into Winter retreat. Our theme this year is "Dreams and the Whisperings of Angels". I think this year's retreat will be big. I'm working hard to bring in "stranded" teens from around the country. Hopefully some of them will make it.
The last issue of Clear Blue Sky for 2010 is in the works. If you have something to submit, there is still time. Send it to Holly or me asap! We'd love to have it.
Oh, and Cody made the changes that Holly, Nina and I suggested to the movie you teens made during the Memorial Day weekend retreat. I haven't watched it yet, but hopefully it will be done for Winter retreat so we can all watch it. We talked about cool ways we could roll it out to the rest of the people in the church, including maybe having a special movie feature presentation at Almont summer camp.
Lastly, I've begun work on a very special retreat. In the Spring of 2011, a retreat will be hosted in England! I will be working hard to get funding to assist as many teens as possible from the U.S. and Canada to be able to go. It will run April 17 - 21 which luckily is the week of Spring break for many schools out here in the East. The folks in the UK have a Spring break then too. How cool is that.
Anyway, that is all that fun stuff that I have been up to. Of course, what I like doing best is hanging out and talking with you. Feel free to call me or email me anytime. See you soon!
Well, it has been a very busy month for me and I am happy to tell you all the exciting things I have been doing. I'll skip all the really boring stuff, like doing the SCYL accounting, revising forms, writing and reading emails, updating mailing lists, sending out information and stuff like that. I'm guessing you're not interested in that. But there are a few things coming up that I am working on that you might like to know about.
First, I am prepping for a big trip out to San Diego to camp with the teens at Morena Lake State Park. Although I have camped and I have going to campgrounds with teens on a retreat, I've never really camped in a tent with teens before. And I've never camped in California in the desert mountains. It should be a great experience and I'm really excited to try out the night vision gear along with all the other fun things that go with camping. I hope that the local youth leaders will have Ramen noodles available. It just isn't camping to me without Ramen. And of course, S'mores. Celie will be joining me from the East and maybe Chris and possibly even Caleb too, as we gather with our West coast friends. I'm looking forward to seeing Jon again and meeting some new friends as well.
I've also been getting ready for the spooky Halloweeny Swedenborg candlelit Fryeburg youth group. We have chosen "Emanuel's Manuals" as our theme this year and we will be looking at a different book of written by Swedenborg each month. Of course, for Halloween we've got to read Heaven and Hell with an emphasis on spirits and demons! I'm looking forward to doing this by candlelight in the attic of the church. Ooooohhh, so scary.
I've been getting so excited for this year's Winter retreat at Almont. The flyers went in the mail yesterday. Look for your coming soon. If you are not on the mailing list or do not receive one in a week or so, please let me know. If you've read this far, you deserve a sneak peek into Winter retreat. Our theme this year is "Dreams and the Whisperings of Angels". I think this year's retreat will be big. I'm working hard to bring in "stranded" teens from around the country. Hopefully some of them will make it.
The last issue of Clear Blue Sky for 2010 is in the works. If you have something to submit, there is still time. Send it to Holly or me asap! We'd love to have it.
Oh, and Cody made the changes that Holly, Nina and I suggested to the movie you teens made during the Memorial Day weekend retreat. I haven't watched it yet, but hopefully it will be done for Winter retreat so we can all watch it. We talked about cool ways we could roll it out to the rest of the people in the church, including maybe having a special movie feature presentation at Almont summer camp.
Lastly, I've begun work on a very special retreat. In the Spring of 2011, a retreat will be hosted in England! I will be working hard to get funding to assist as many teens as possible from the U.S. and Canada to be able to go. It will run April 17 - 21 which luckily is the week of Spring break for many schools out here in the East. The folks in the UK have a Spring break then too. How cool is that.
Anyway, that is all that fun stuff that I have been up to. Of course, what I like doing best is hanging out and talking with you. Feel free to call me or email me anytime. See you soon!
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