On Monday I was able to attend the first day of the Freshmen retreat to the DaySpring Episcopal Conference Center. I had really had little idea what to expect because while I knew that they were doing something called the "high ropes" course I had no concept of what that meant. I knew that the goal of the retreat was to build teamwork and cohesion across group lines among this class. I was eager to see how they worked together and if they were able to be vulnerable and open to being challenged. I was pleasantly surprised.
The day began early and as we arrived at Dayspring I began to understand my role as complimentary to the work being done a by an excellent group known as "Pathfinders". They would be running the activities and as chaperones we were being asked to help supervise and ease the transition from one group to another. If we wanted to go one step further we could help by participating in the activities and modeling them for the students, as long as we didn't come up with the answers.
The first few team building exercises were humorous as tasks as simple as balancing a hula hoop with just one finger became an arduous task of communication and coordination. Over time I began to see leaders emerge, as well as those individuals who had great communication skills but were just a little shy.
After lunch, we walked out to the high ropes and my mouth fell aghast as I looked up at the 40 ft tall revenger wall. Would I do this? Could I do this?
One thing I have learned since my 20's is that you must take risks. You must put yourself out there in order to succeed. And if you should happen to fail then you will have gained a valuable lesson. Either way, you have to do it. I felt as if I had to no choice but to participate, to test myself and to allow those present to see that all of us are challenged and need to keep trying. I watched other students attempt the climb. For some it proved to be to difficult and they couldn't make it up passed the initial netting. For others, the climb seemed to second nature and the completed it quickly. However, there was one student who took his time and didn't let the initial desire to quit keep him from trying. He stuck with it and conquered the wall, his smile beaming from the top of the platform.
So when it was finally my turn I looked up at the wall and gulped. I am not the strongest man in the world. I have climbed a version of these walls before but nothing this difficult. I began the climb confident and started making way up steadily. But then I hit a roadblock as I could not reach the next handhold. My hands struggled to keep a grip and I could not leverage myself up. Eventually I had to give up and admit defeat.
My students still cheered me on as I came down. They were impressed that I had endeavored to even try the climb. Those who had not completed it empathized with me and I felt a bond develop. I wasn't ashamed that I hadn't reached the summit. I relearned the lesson that I need to learn everyday. I can't do certain things on my own. This life, this vocation I have will never be accomplished without God's help, without the help of good Christian people to support me. Even when I fall I know that God is there to catch me. And if the fall is especially painful then I know that he is there to help me get back up again.
I am happy that I got to learn those lessons with my students. I hope that we all keep them for years to come.
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