Contributed by Ryota Naito
CARP chapters from Boston, Bridgeport, and Philadelphia banded together to host a three-day Divine Principle retreat in Gloucester, Massachusetts from May 27th - May 30th, 2023. The theme of this retreat was called, “Becoming.” Upon the success of the “Find Your Inner Light” retreat that was hosted in December 2022, the hope was for each participant to inherit important lessons from key Biblical figures and become people who God can work through. There were a total of fourteen attendees throughout the retreat including three new CARP guests and three CARP leaders/supporters from local chapters.
Each morning started with a fun “energizer” to move everyone’s mind and body, followed by spiritual content like scriptural readings, reflection, a testimonial, and discussion to help everyone connect more to the theme.
The Divine Principle presenters were Eva Schneider, Samuel Miranda, and Luc Jean. The key characters of those Biblical stories came alive through the passionate and detailed talks of each of the presenters. Despite uncertainties of these stories being an archetype or real historical accounts, the presenters conveyed timeless lessons from them that are critical to our present day lives. The participants were able to ask questions about the content and the presenters’ relationship with it during a Q&A session on the last full day.
The afternoon and evening activities were crafted to help everyone experience a glimpse of the Biblical figures’ roles. One activity focused on Noah, where participants were tasked to fill a trash can with water on top of a rock by using seemingly useless tools. Another activity focused on Moses, where one participant was secretly in a central role during a sports activity; they were to gather allies who would follow him in a seemingly unrelated task that would actually gain victory for all, despite everyone else being told that they were doing another activity. On the final night, as a culmination of connecting to the hearts of all central people of history, there was a breakthrough activity where participants wrote down their biggest limitations on a wooden board and symbolically broke past them by breaking the boards and burning them in a fire pit. At the end, they shared gratitudes throughout the retreat with each other.
The retreat could not have been possible without the incredible CARP mother figures and kitchen staff who cooked delicious meals throughout the entire weekend. The staff was also grateful to have permission to host their retreat at the beautiful Morning Garden property.
The staff looks forward to continue hosting these retreats where more people can hear the Divine Principle and experience genuine friendships.
Testimonials:
“The lecture based activities were useful for seeing applications of those lessons and rethinking them in a different environment from the lectures. The wood breaking one was good for finding something I wanted to improve and making the first step on improving. Together, both gave more perspectives and I feel like the beginnings of a framework to be more resilient and better able to deal with the world.”
- Brendan, first-time workshop participant
“By studying the teachings of the Bible and the Divine Principle I’m able to have more direction in my life and feel more in control of myself and who I want to be.”
- Ildi, first-time workshop participant