The Story of an Autumn God Camp in a Castle
Settle down, snuggle in, get nice and comfy and let’s begin….
THE STORY OF AN AUTUMN GOD CAMP IN A CASTLE
Once upon a time, there was a group of Catholic People. They enjoyed each other’s company and relished spending time together, playing, talking, thinking, eating and celebrating. In fact, they liked it so much, they agreed to meet regularly, for a few days and up to a week at time. They were a kind bunch and had a very loving approach to faith, welcoming all people, Catholic or not.
They organised the meetings and all the jobs that goes with it, cooking the food, bringing plans for activities, running discussion and reflection groups, looking after the children, making the music, and singing the songs. They even took over most of the mass! Don’t worry children, there were some lovely priests, who agreed with this approach to Faith and joined in all the fun! So, when it was time to decide on the name of these Weeks, the Catholic People decided to call themselves….. Catholic People’s Weeks or CPW for short. Some of the People’s children, when they learned to speak, could not remember the letters CPW, and just called it ‘God Camp’.
Generally, the children ran around, played and made a lot of noise, the young people helped to look after the children and the grown-ups cooked, talked, made drawings, reflected and enjoyed simply being there. Over the years, the children grew up and became young people who helped to look after the children, young people became grown-ups, who organised and attended the gatherings, and some grown-ups had their own children to bring along. On and on the CPW story went in a big, happy circle.
And so it was, many, many years after the first CPW, the group met for the traditional Autumn gathering. It was one cold and bright Thursday in November, when they travelled from far and wide to stay at a ramshackle but handsome old castle, for a long weekend. The event was expertly organised by Nick, although he would be the first to admit he couldn’t have done it without Mary. They were a beautiful example of the CPW circle, as their daughter Grace did a wonderful job of being Chief Helper. Aileen cooked delicious food with the help of Clare, which everyone scoffed with great glee whenever meal times came around. Louise chaired the gathering and came up with the wonderful idea for the group to think about stories, how they are made, what they mean and how they shape people. Father Tim was on hand to celebrate mass.
The group started by thinking about their own story, both as people, and as Catholic People’s Weeks, with Rosie bringing a lovely story about her family, and the Castle, and the CPW family and their story, leaving them all warm and fuzzy, happy to be part of this big family.
Louise very expertly, just as you weave a story, with a beginning, a middle, some embellishments, some twists, and an end, took the group on a journey that started with the story of people, the story of making stories, the story of Faith, the stories that are Real and the stories that are True. She also invited a wonderful storyteller called Deborah, to talk to the group about making stories about the world they live in, and the changes in it, finding your voice and telling a story the way you want to.
The group had fun, got wet in the rain, celebrated an important Feast of All the Saints, loved, laughed and ate and drank. The children ran around, happy to live their own stories, of growing up spending weekends in old castles. When the last evening together came, they held a concert, where they sang for each other, and told jokes, and made each other laugh late into the night. Far too soon, it was Sunday, and time for all to say goodbye again, sad to leave each other, but already planning the next time they would meet.
Without anyone noticing, Louise had woven the magic of a good story around and in the group, who left knowing that, just like the stories in their Faith, a story does not have to be Real to be True. Strengthened and fortified with love, good food, laughter, new stories and new memories, they all were happy to belong. They knew that in the end, what will remain of these meetings will be the stories of CPW, and they will be very happy stories indeed.
THE END
By Hermarette van den Burgh
