Teens Learn How to Escape the Beautifully Wicked Trap at the SCYL Fall Retreat

By Kurt Fekete

At this year’s Swedenborgian Church Youth League (SCYL) Fall Teen Retreat at Cedar Hill Retreat Center in South Duxbury, Massachusetts, we dove fearlessly into the theme The Beautifully Wicked Trap: How Hell Captures Your Soul.Eleven teens explored the subtle ways the Hells try to lure us in, and how we can recognize these negative influences and rise above it. Together, we unpacked Hell’s “playbook”—from twisted truths to empty pleasures—and uncovered powerful defenses rooted in love, joy, and service. 

Seminary student Ben Gunter kicked things off Saturday morning. Ben’s session was about recognizing the ways the Hells twist the truth. He began with a scripture reading from John 8:31–38 where we find the passage, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Ben broke the teens into small groups where they were asked to ponder and reflect upon the following: “Think about a time when truth was used in a loving way or an unkind way.” The teens came back together and shared some highlights of their conversations. There was great discussion around how much the teens are okay with sharing the truth with their parents. In response to the question, “Can you think of a time about a difficult truth that led you or someone else to love?” One teen remarked, “I gave constructive criticism of an art piece that helped the artist.” Ben closed with, “Go forth and live lives of truth and love.”

Rev. Kevin Baxter led the Saturday afternoon session, Bait them with Fun. Kevin asked the teens to consider, “What was something you really wanted, got, and found out it wasn’t as good as you thought it would be?” The group went on to talk about instances when people do things that appear good but are done for selfish reasons. Kevin invited the teens to find the bait and hook in some different scenarios. For example, “Riley loves helping fellow students with their math homework, but when he doesn’t get recognition for his efforts, he becomes bitter and resentful.” In this case, the bait is acknowledgement, and the hook is being overly self-centered. Then Kevin led the teens in a paper collage activity where they created two sides of a poster with one side representing healthy love and the other side the twisted hook. Kevin finished his session explaining that we need balance. He emphasized the importance of people in our lives to help us keep our love on track.

Rev. Sage Cole arrived Saturday afternoon to prepare for her two-part session on ego. For Sage’s evening session, we walked down to the beach at dusk and watched the diminishing sunset fade away as darkness descended over the waters of Kingston Bay. We stood in the dark as Sage related the earliest story of creation, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep.” She told us how the first forms of life came to earth and how, slowly over millennia, more complicated creatures evolved and dry land appeared. Then, in only the most recent age, humans were birthed onto the earth. Here, the first notions of Hell were conceptualized, and the ego (or, in Swedenborgian terms, proprium) came into being. 

Under the stars in the growing darkness, we contemplated the positives and negatives of being separate beings. We discovered that, existing as separate individuals with independent egos, we can learn and grow from a myriad of different perspectives. We can expand God’s activity in the world. But we also discussed how it can be hard to connect. You can feel isolated, lonely, and frustrated. It can be hard to understand purpose. Standing in our little circle on the beach in the dark made it easy to feel small and insignificant while at the same time making us realize how important and connected we all are to each other.

Sunday morning, Sage led the teens in a journaling activity. They were prompted to write in a stream of consciousness. Sage explained that as you think and write, this journaling can be thought of as a conversation or battle between your soul and yourself. She asked the teens to write down things they enjoy and consider what the world would look like if they could have all these things. After journaling, the group shared their wonderful worlds. What were some of the things in their worlds? Dance, Almont, pasta, Sage Cole, guitar, art, fall, trees, music, friends, my hair, Taylor Swift, my cat, reading, Christmas, pickles, drawing, swimming, stargazing, family, writing, worshipping, meditation, doing good, listening to the earth, viola, retreats, science, my sister, baking, sleeping, and walking. Sage finished her session by reading the beautiful vision of a new heaven and a new earth from Revelation 21:1–4.

At our closing worship on Sunday evening, we moved from Hell to Heaven. We started in the dark, listening to Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones, while gradually moving into the light. We heard a reading from Matthew 5:14–16 that teaches us that we are the light of the world. We should not put our light under a basket but on the lamp-stand so that our light can shine before people in such a way that they may see our good works. Then, from Romans 12:9–10, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” We ended with a prayer to help us to choose to turn towards goodness and truth as we feel the pull of both heavenly and hellish influences.

For fun, we all enjoyed beachcombing and bowling: apple crisp and ice cream brownies. Catchphrase and Quiplash. Frisbee and volleyball. Beki’s homemade bread and Nate’s birthday cookie. Thank you to our extraordinary Midwest drivers Jeff and Heather Oelker, engaging session presenters, Ben, Kevin, and Sage, and special support from Jill Koundry Baxter and Beki Greenwood. Although parts of this retreat were unsettling and dark (quite literally when we visited the beach at night), fear was never the focus. Instead, it was about freedom: the freedom to live with clarity, strength, and purpose, and create lives that truly connect and give back. We left Cedar Hill feeling better equipped to reject hellish persuasions and instead listen intently to angelic whisperings that seek to guide us down a positive path.

Read the full issue of the November/December 2025 Messenger.