It came and now it's done. The nearer the Redeemer Retreat came, the more excited I became. Not only because I enjoy to worship together with other confessional Lutherans and learn from Pastors, but because of the chance to sharpen my mind against/with some of my best friends.
Despite the fact that I wish I could have more time to talk with people, I thoroughly enjoyed the conference. The Plenaries left a little to be wanted, but the fault was mostly mine for I didn't know the history of the synod well enough to be able to fully grasp what was said. Whenever I couldn't follow, then I would use that time in explaining to Kimmy and Alena what I did understand. Mom filled in the gaps on the car ride home. Overall, the plenaries were interesting.
I did enjoy the sectionals. The one of Modesty was well done and refreshing. Mrs. Pullman is a good speaker, and did the presentation well. The material itself wasn't anything I hadn't heard before, but it was encouraging to hear someone else besides my parents or older sisters. :)
The Hunger Games discussion...hmmm...a tougher one to explain my opinions. Since I haven't read the books, I can not say much concerning their content. I am wary of those who praise a popular piece of modern fiction to the skies, especially after Twilight. I can understand why Twilight could be enjoyed, but I can't understand why Twilight should deserved the title of "Oh my! It's like the best book ever!". This is not to say The Hunger Games is the same as the Twilight Trilogy. Indeed, I have every reason to believe it is much better than Twilight and has more complexity.
I hold the opinion once your mind intakes something, it can never be removed from the filing cabinets of your brain. You may be able to forget it, but it will always be there. E.g., as soon as you see a photo of a purple dolphin eating twenty three peanut butter sandwiches, your brain has created a neurological connection (or pathway) for everything you see in the photo. The colors, the shapes, the objects in the photos everything that is surrounding you as you are looking at the photo, your physical state, your emotional state, everything becomes associated with purple dolphins eating peanut butter sandwiches (p.d.e.p.b.s.). Now as time goes on, your pathway to p.d.e.p.b.s. will become less and less traveled. Finally it will become inactive; forgotten. But it's still there. The memory itself is still there, the neurons are still there. The memory can still be reach by stimulating the neurons. So whatever you see, whatever you think about, whatever you read can be reach again. (Hehehe. Now my blog will be associated forever in your mind with p.d.e.p.b.s.). This is why one must be careful what ones intakes. Unfortunately, it's more difficult in practice. In order to know what to intake, you have to intake enough to know if one should intake the rest. But once you've taken it in, you can't get it out. I guess this is why we all live by the grace and mercy of God.
The sectional Pastor Frese did was interesting, but would have been even more so if we had been able to get through it all. :)
What I enjoyed most of the conference itself was the services. I love my Emmaus very dearly, but Redeemer has some of the most beautiful Lutheran services I have even seen. The church itself is has more space (literally more space) and it is much more light, not so dark. I love the choir loft because I can actually see what it going on. Usually I am short enough that the person in front of me blocks my view, but the choir loft allows me to see everything. I loved waking up every morning and going to Matins. Communion every day was literally heavenly. Those who attend their church on a daily basis can not comprehend what daily church it means to those who can not. The preachers (especially Pastor Frese) were fantastic.
The fellowship was great. It was wonderful to be back with my friends again and to actually be able to talk. The dancing went fairly well, though I was so nervous I was shaking. The disappointing thing about calling a dance is that you are unable to dance it and being labeled as a "caller" makes you less likely to be asked when you're not calling. I'm very grateful to the gentlemen who did ask to dance with me. The most rewarding part was watching people enjoy themselves. I love dancing, but it makes me glad to see others enjoy it as much as I do.
The hardest part was the goodbyes. I seriously was afraid to hug anyone for fear of leaving tears on their shirts. Canada seems so far away from Michigan and Indiana, but this is why internets make everything better.
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