Today, we had our Sophies Recollection at Betania Retreat House. We're all actually still soooooo tired and weren't really up for a reflecting session immediately after the bimonthly exams last week. But there's no other time anymore (we've been postponing it since like forever!) and so we just had to give up watching LOTR and proceed with the recollection.
Well, I was definitely pleased with what happened today because I got to reflect on God's Love (which was the theme) in His creation, in my life and in those around me. For the reflection of His creation, we had a little "Creation Walk" in the retreat house's beautiful garden which was overlooking the sea. I also saw some water lilies for the first time and thought that they're really pretty. I decided then that I am a little like the water lily bud. It's anchored firm to the pond but hasn't bloomed yet. But someday, when it will, it will look really nice. ^____^ //cough-cough//
Then we had some readings and then I got to share a little of my life with one of my closest friends in class. She told me she appreciated my being responsible, dependable and organized. ^^;; Anou na..! //shy// I told her that I wish I was more outgoing and daring like her. ^o^ After our little sharing, we had our lunch (YUMMmmm!! Love the shrimps!) and then we broke up into groups to further share about our reflections based on our Bible passage (which was the story of Jesus walking on water). Most of us were struck with the lines "Take courage and do not be afraid" and "O you of little faith, why do you doubt?". I realized then that many of my classmates feel the same way as me about the hardships in medschool, and that we all believe that our faith in God is essential if we want to succeed in our studies. It was a really fulfilling sharing session because of the insights and also because we were in the other side of the retreat house grounds, this time overlooking the breath-taking mountains. ^___^ (I realized today that I really like mountains.)
After that, we went back to the function room to have a little "Circle of Love" experience. I remember when we did this during my undergrad senior's retreat, we opened up our feelings for our clasmates and cried so hard. But today, we didn't cry. It's because the boys kept cracking jokes to ease the tension. LOLz I took that opportunity to thank those people who have helped me in many ways, and I was happy because one of my classmates said that in behalf of the "parasites" in the class, they'd like to thank me and this other classmate for our generous sharing of our notes. Hehehe I was really happy, because I always thought they just took me for granted and never really appreciated my efforts.
After that, we had to write a letter for God and I wrote a whole page long back-to-back. ^^;; We were supposed to either bring the letter home with us or bury it in the garden. I chose to fold my letter into a paper plane and let it fly off to that place overlooking the mountains. I felt very... dramatic. LOLz
The day ended with the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Eucharistic mass (which I didn't participate since I'm not Catholic) and then we took group pictures and went home. I felt really relaxed and happy today. One of our facilitators actually asked what is "reflection" in Tagalog and no one was able to answer (cos well, we're not Tagalogs ^^;;) and she said that it's "pagmuni-muni". And then she asked what's "reflection" in our dialect and she said that it's not the same as the Tagalog term because "pagmuni-muni" in Visayan means "pag-inom inom" (= to have a drinking spree.. lolz). We thought for a while and one of my classmates answered that it's "PAGPAMALANDONG". And we were all awed cos it's one of those really heavy Visayan terms that most of us don't even know. And it's a really nice word cos it literally means "to take shade", like a farmer taking shade under a tree from the scorch of the sun and looking out at his farm to see what he has accomplished and what he has yet to accomplish. And I felt that the word perfectly describes what we did for the day because we were able to see what we have done in our lives and what still needs to be done. And most importantly, we were able to reflect on God's great love and goodness, which should always be our source of strength and renewal. (^o^)
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