Lasallian recollection, what is it? Well, it is a day when the students in La Salle will be assigned to attend a mini retreat on the designated place behind the university campus. It is also the day when we confine ourselves to find God, as Christians quote it. Yesterday, the whole class attended this retreat. The scheduled time was to start at 7:30 and end at 16:00.
All of us, of course, haven't had the slightest idea of what people do on the Lasallian Recollection day. As usual, I was the earliest one to arrive the hermitage at 7:10 in the morning. The hermitage the place where the retreat is going to be held. 15 mins later, a few more classmates came and we started taking pictures using the digital camera I brought with me while waiting for the others to come. My classmates were all very vain LOL They would pose whenever they see a camera. But I like people who are willing to join the "pictorial" hehe :P Another 15 mins passed and alomst all of my classmates had arrived. We started with an orientation by the volunteers from the pastoral office of the university. One of the volunteer, named Jay, told us to keep quiet when inside the prayer room because that is the rule. We said "Ok.We'll keep quiet."
We entered the prayer room after we removed our shoes. We were all kinda excited when once we're inside the room. The candle-lit room, together with a mini electronic waterfall on the right side, and the holy music drifting across the room, gave me a feeling of peace and calmness. The facilitator was seated on the left corner of the room, beside the stereo, meditating. There were 37 pillows on the floor for us to sit on. I chose the pillow situated on the right side corner by the wall and sat down. Well, since we're all so excited, we started talking and laughing once we've sat down, totally forgetting what Jay told us about having to maintain silence in the prayer room. After a few minutes, the facilitator quietly stood up and started writing on the white board. He wrote: "If you do not know how to keep quiet, please arrange the pillows and go out of this room and come back only if you know how it is to be in a prayer room." We obediently did what he said, went out of the room and waited outside for ourselves to quiet down. After a while, we went back in quietly and the facilitator welcomed us and asked us to write how we feel about being asked to go out and what lesson have we learned from that. I gladly wrote down that I feel bad and sorry for failing to acknowledge the importance of silence and discipline when inside the prayer room.
The facilitator, after having welcomed us, started talking. It turned out that he was not that bad at all. He was a humorous and cheerful guy. He was only frustrated because we didn't know how to behave ourselves properly inside the prayer room. After that, the retreat started. The facilitator asked us questions and told us stories about God and later, asking us to write our reflections on the paper and read it out loud so everyone could hear. After 2 hours, we were going to have breakfast, finally. We had pasta and punch for breakfast, it was delicious. 15 mins later, we went back to the prayer room and the volunteers assigned to us an activity. We were to find a partner, preferably one of the opposite sex, get 2 ropes with loops. We were to connect the first rope across the other rope and have both of our hands inside the 2 loops of each rope. The objective is to free each other from the knot between us in a limited time without removing the loops from either of our hands. It was really hard. My partner and I did so many trials, but with no success. Finally, after a while, there were 2 pairs who were able to free themselves from each other. It was fun. Then the facilitator asked these 2 pairs to demonstrate to us how they freed each other. The solution turned out to be really simple. I can't believe that it could be done even when sitting, all you need is to insert a loop to the loop of the rope of your partner and there you go, you're freed. The purpose of this activity was to let us know that sometimes, things doesn't have to be so complicated. There are problems that can be solved just by simple solutions, without having to think too far away. How ironic. At least, I learned a lesson from that :D
2 hours later, we were to have our lunch break. The lunch was delicious too. It was something of pork and some vegetables. After the lunch, we all rested for a while, took some pictures, and later went back to the prayer room. It was then that another activity was assigned to us. It is called the "Game of Life." It was a very strategic game. All of us had to travel across to the other side of the room and inside a rectangular area enclosed by the tape. We have to travel without leaving any boxes of the "bridge" that will lead us across empty. We have always to have at least one foot stepped on the tiles. If anyone violates the rule, he/she will be dead. He/she will then be directed to the "graveyard" and wait for someone to rescue them there. It was fun, suspensory, and at the same time, unnerving. The first chance we had, we lost. We were unable to complete the designated task within the given time period. On our second chance, we became more serious and started planning what to do and who to go first. In the end, we won. All 37 of us were able to fit in the small rectangular area without falling out. The purpose of this activity is to show us that we do not have a second chance in life. Every experience is different, it will never happen again; therefore, we must make good use of every chance we have in our life.
After the fearful "Game of Life," will be our mass time. The priest came in the prayer room and started the mass. I was kinda lost at that time, as I'm neither a Catholic, nor a Protestante. The fact is, I don't have any religion, but I believe in the existence of God. All I did was to follow what my classmates were doing -- singing, reciting, and listening. The Christian songs were really nice. Every song implicated the meaning of life and the love of God for all of us. After the mass, we will be leaving, and the retreat shall end.
I feel so relaxed and happy after the retreat. I didn't expect it to be this enjoyable. I think that a retreat was only all about sermons, but it was not. I was in fact, very interesting. Through activities, we realized what were rights and wrongs were. Through activities, we learned how to make ourselves efficient and help ourselves in the future. This day will be one of the most memorable days of my university life. After this year, there will come 3 more Lasallian Recollection days. I hope I would equally enjoy them, as I had with the first one.
