Teens Explore the Universal Human at the SCYL Memorial Day Retreat

By Kurt Fekete

Fourteen SCYL teens, along with fourteen young adult Transitions group members, gathered at Almont retreat center over Memorial Day weekend to attend the annual spring retreat. The teens stayed in Heritage Hall, while the young adults resided in the dormitory. The teens attend spiritual sessions while, the young adults primarily spent their time improving the retreat facility. They did extensive work weeding and clearing out the firepit area, along with numerous other tasks around the grounds of the camp. Teens and young adults gathered for meals in the dining hall.

The teen group really connected at this retreat. The teens seemed to feel more comfortable sharing personal experiences and expressing their concerns and troubles. I felt that they really supported each other. We had four new teens who had never attended a retreat before. Two of those teens had never even met any of the other teens before. They were quite anxious about attending at first, but all it took was a volleyball to welcome them in! Once they started bumping the ball around in a circle with the other teens, they felt included. I’m so proud of how all the SCYL teens made the newcomers feel like they belonged in this community. 

The Universal Human was our retreat theme. I started the retreat off with a discussion about the afterlife and heaven. We talked about how all of heaven is made up of angels that were people that lived on earth. Then we moved into a conversation on how heaven is organized. We talked about the heavenly and spiritual kingdoms, but quickly jumped into the concept of heaven organized into the form of a human. We read from Emanuel Swedenborg’s Heaven and Hell §65 and learned, “In general, the highest or third heaven forms the head down to the neck, the middle or second forms the torso, and the lowest or first forms the feet to the very soles and also the arms all the way to the fingers.” Next, from Heavenly Secrets §2996, we heard “all things in the human body have a correspondence to those in heaven; insomuch that there is not the smallest particle in the body, to which something spiritual and celestial does not correspond. The universal heaven is also called the Universal Human; and hence one society belongs to one province of the body, another to another, and so on.” We ended the session talking about each of the eleven major systems in the human body and how each of these systems form their own kingdom and have a heavenly use. For example, those spirits in the nervous system control and disseminate information and manage feedback from the other kingdoms. Acting like individual nerve cells, these angels monitor, listen, and respond to other angel’s thoughts and intentions throughout all of heaven. 

Rev. Renée Machiniak and Rev. Kit Billings led the teens on a trip through the digestive tract! We discovered that the way food enters the human body and is transformed into energy is a magnificent illustration of how new souls are birthed into the spiritual world and taken up into a heavenly community. In the first contact of the lips and mouth, we are lovingly and warmly received into the afterlife. Those new spirits that are exceptionally sweet and good are ready for heaven and are immediately absorbed into the heavenly bloodstream of love and wisdom. Most spirits travel on to the stomach and small intestines, entering the world of spirits, where the interiors of these newcomers are opened while their exteriors are broken down and removed. Many angels are digested into heaven here. Some more hardened souls make their way all the way through the large intestines to the rectum, where at that point, there is little remaining love of goodness and truth. These spirits enjoy vile pleasures and offenses and are unfortunately expelled into the hells. Learning about traversing the digestive system helped us better understand how to tenderize the tough, rougher side of ourselves and gave us insights into what areas we might try to adopt sweeter, healthier, and more satisfying life choices.

Heather Oelker and I led a fun activity where we learned about the functions of the major bodily organs and what activities angels in that community perform. We traced the youngest teen, Grayson, (hence tracin’ Grayson, image center) on a roll of paper. Then, we hid paper images of the organs, and the teens hunted for them. Next, we blindfolded the teens, and one by one, they took turns trying to pin the paper organ on the traced human (image below). Thankfully, when our silly mixed-up human was complete, Katie Carson, a certified nurse practitioner, rearranged the organs into a more anatomically correct human. Lastly, we reviewed the function of each organ and what the associated angels do in that region of heaven.

Rev. Renée led a session titled Healthy Mind, Body, and Spirit. She helped the teens understand how to treat their bodies right and how taking care of your body helps your spirit. A highlight from her session was a calming outside meditation on blankets under the morning sunshine.

Rev. Kit completed our spiritual discussions with a presentation on the five senses. We learned that sight represents an affection for intelligence, wisdom, and clarity; hearing corresponds to an affection for learning and obedience; smelling is an affection for perceiving; tasting represents an affection for knowing and experience; and lastly, touching is an affection for goodness and emotional connection.

Rev. Machiniak and Rev. Billings also provided our closing communion worship service (image right). Kit’s message was heartfelt as he expressed the pain and the hardship that comes when the body is broken and needs the Lord’s healing.

One of the teens at the retreat has type 1 diabetes. They were particularly interested in the pancreas, as theirs does not function properly. They said something like, “me and my stupid broken pancreas.” The pancreas, you may know, produces enzymes and hormones, like insulin. It also works with the spleen to refine and purify the blood. This teen was fascinated to learn more about the pancreas and hear that angels in the pancreas help spirits who are too engaged in small talk and idleness become more intelligent and hone their heavenly use. After spirits exit their time in the pancreas, they feel renewed and purer and wiser. Our diabetic teen felt like they belonged in the pancreatic society. Learning about the Universal Human and the pancreas specifically helped them feel a bit better about themself and their condition. That is what teen retreats are all about: learning and growing in an inviting, open, and accepting community who nurture and support each other. 

We were blessed with beautiful weather, and aside from the many afternoon volleyball circles, we went on our annual Sunday outing to Lake Nepessing Golfland for a fun round of mini golf and go-karting! It is always a joy to watch and sometimes join in with the teens excitedly racing their go-karts around the track.

Thank you to all our wonderful staff at this retreat. Thank you to Tammara Mounce for cooking and leading the Transitions group, and to Almont facility manager Lori Patana for hosting the two groups. Thank you to all the parents and families for trusting us to care for your teens. And lastly, thank you to the teens for attending this retreat and for being so incredibly caring, kind, and supportive of the retreat leaders, and most importantly, to each other. 

Read the full issue of the September / October 2024 Messenger