First Night at the Retreat: Getting to Know You

I have safely made it to the mountain top!  I am at Lutheridge for the Create in Me retreat, my all time favorite retreat.  I have been attending this retreat since 2003, and I've only missed 2 years.  Each year focuses on a different part of the Triune God (Creator, Jesus, Holy Spirit), and this year is the Holy Spirit year.  We're focusing on the fruits of the spirit.

I am always intrigued by the first night exercises.  We need to have some getting-to-know-you exercises, which many of us dread.  Last night's was not bad.  First, we looked at the list of the fruits of the spirit, a list on the big screen: 

We thought about which fruit we hoped would be rooted in us this week-end.  Then we were invited to choose a picture of the fruit that represented that quality. 

I chose a pineapple for patience, because it takes 2 years for a pineapple to grow.  We moved around the room, introducing ourselves by exchanging pictures and explaining the fruit.  Of course, then we had a different picture in our hand.  It was interesting to think about how each fruit might symbolize patience (peaches require patience to get away from the stone, pomegranates require patience to get the seeds).

We then moved to the Arts Worship, which began with an arts meditation.  We got a picture from the fruit group that spoke to us, and then a picture from the other group:

Our worship leader read the text, Galations 5:  22-23.  Here are the two versions we heard last night.  First from the NIV version:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Then, The Message:

22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

23 Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way.
And then we were invited to peel the create:  we had 2 pictures which were actually printed on sticker paper, and we had a sheet of black paper.  We went to work and came up with a variety of approaches.

Here's mine:

We had time to talk about our creations, another great way of getting to know each other.  And then we did the rest of the service, which includes the anointing of hands to do holy work.

I'm looking forward to this time in the mountains, this time to think, this time to play.