Part II: Carolyn on "The Greatest Things"

Teen Service Week is very difficult to describe.  We past participants usually end by saying, “You just have to come,” or “Oh, you just had to be there.”   Joseph Campbell wrote, “The greatest things cannot be told.”  I think that explains it.  

TSW is so direct, immediate, and extraordinary that it is my hope these blog posts will serve the purpose of explaining that which cannot be explained.  Or to, at least, give a glimpse of what has happened in the heart of a parent’s beloved child.  I write as an advocate for the spirits that have been revealed to me on TSW.

We hit the ground running on Sunday by playing games, giving introductions, and discussing our guidelines. We then move into an activity designed to begin considering Life's Big Questions:  

• What is the lived experience of the poor?  
• What is justice?  
• What has God said about this?  
• What is my role in this picture?  
• What time is our snack?  

That last question is of equal importance because it is in human relationships that we build community and, in that community, the big questions become less daunting.

The pillars of TSW, the principles which uphold and give structure to each individual week, are Community Living, Simple Living in solidarity with the poor, Service, and Prayer.  In conjunction with our theme, the pillars encourage deep personal reflection. TSW offers the space and freedom to revel in the realization of our potential for beauty, strength, and nobility.  Some of us find, in awe and simplicity, the outer manifestation of our inner Light.  

In an address to parents during one closing ceremony, a young woman summarized her revelations by saying, “I learned that peace and nonviolence are the way to move forward in the world.”  My heart truly sang upon hearing those words.

  

For the majority of teens, TSW is a remarkable week of service, faith, and self-discovery. A week of feeling really good about themselves and the work they’ve done; a week of finding themselves grateful for what they have; a week of experiencing, really, what the lessons of their faith had been talking about.  A week of learning that one person can, indeed, make a difference.  

These are wondrous, important discoveries for a person to make, and very beautiful to behold.  I am proud of these teens, and I am profoundly grateful for their openness, growth, and self-discovery.  

as I've come to understand ... The greatest things cannot be told ...

.....

tomorrow Carolyn will speak to Living a Life Uncommon