Calaidescope World

A Sense of Purpose

Of all the things I am involved with, I am most proud of what little work I do (or what little attention I give nowadays) for a High School retreat known as Search-In. Designed specifically for Junior High School students in the De La Salle School system by the Christian Brothers in the Philippines, it is a weekend best described as a retreat for kids, by kids (oh, and us children at heart).

Last month, Search-In Alabang celebrated it's 20th year anniversary by holding it's 100th retreat in DLSZ. 100 retreats. Wow. I attended the 20th retreat and was very active while still in school, but slowly stopped attending to spend more time studying or working. There was even a time when I actually thought the whole thing could be a hoax. Then I came back. I sat in during the "key" activities, helped facilitate and even delivered a couple of talks. Next thing I knew, I was hooked. Again. I had found myself a sense of purpose. This is how I say "Yes!" to Life.

Why am I here? Why are WE here, for that matter? A couple or so years back, Bianca received a message or found a reading in Sister Gertrude's office about the five kinds of love - saying "I love you" outright, giving gifts, through touch like a pat on the back or a quick hug, through service, and by spending quality time with someone. Then I had this discussion with VP while taking a break during one of the retreats and she said, "What is God? Love. What is our purpose in life? To love."

Search-In is all about building and maintaining a community with God at the centre of it all. It's not pretentious or "holy-holy". We don't aim to convert everyone to Catholicism. If anything, we want kids - especially at age 15 or 16 when they're most confused about who they are and how they fit in - to know that there are people out there who understand them, who care about them, and will always be there for them. It is a chance for retreatants to really connect with each other, their schoolmates and their families. Sometimes retreatants realise that their parents and older siblings and cousins were young just like them and that they may have also gone through the same thing. It is also an opportunity to make new friends. Real ones. I love it that we are able to use Search-In to change lives for the better. Even just having one of 16 to 20 participants come out of the retreat a better and happier person is enough to call the weekend a success.

God is love. Our purpose in life is to love. It is now all a matter of knowing how we and others show love to help each other grow; for love is never selfish or unkind. Thank God for Search-In that lends us the little opportunity to give back to the community and help make our corner of the world a better place to live. And to Jippo, Tim, Margot, Anmi, and everyone who made circle 100 a success - congratulations and thank you for keeping the candle burning.

posted by Calai @ 2:56 AM