Nurturing Seeds of Hope: A Young Mercy Links Retreat
July 31, 2024
“This retreat reenergises me and makes me so motivated to be a [Young Mercy Links] member. I can’t wait to explore these initiatives we planned, incorporating a hope-based communication when advocating in this group.”
Ruby H., YML member since 2022.
This year, the Young Mercy Links (YML) Victoria annual retreat centred on Hope. Catherine McAuley calls us to be people of ‘outrageous hope’ and it was this idea that we explored amongst the tranquil bush setting in Daylesford.
As people of Mercy, we all recognise hope as a verb – it is an action and a choice we make every day. We are called to live hopefully, nurturing the seed of hope within ourselves while simultaneously sharing it with others. We must not only hope for an end to difficulties but maintain and work towards our “outrageous” hopes of peace, equality and prosperity. I believe that YML is a fantastic symbol of this hope for the Mercy tradition and that each of our members is determined to contribute to our world in a meaningful, hopeful way.
Throughout the retreat we participated in several sessions and in one we explored the idea of hope-based communication. As young people passionate about social justice, we often find ourselves having conversations that leave our audience feeling fear or sadness. We want to educate our communities and advocate for justice but as we learned, hope-based communication is a far more effective method of advocacy. After watching Thomas Coombes speak, we discussed his idea that framing our advocacy to inspire hope rather than fear may call our communities to action more effectively and help us to create meaningful change in our social justice endeavours. We took the rest of the retreat to meditate on these ideas by engaging in different activities designed to enable us to reflect deeply on what we had learned.
The eighth work of Mercy is incorporated into so many of our YML ventures it is no surprise our retreat included the ‘Hope Walk’. As we explored the bush near Daylesford, we were asked to reflect on the seeds of hope we were actively tending in our lives. As we walked, we were to find an object, a natural part of our surroundings, to carry with us so that we might focus and deepen our reflection and imbue our chosen object with hope and good intentions before returning it to the earth. During my own reflection, I was reminded of playing games in the bush during my childhood. Growing up in and around the Otways, being surrounded by nature and new life every day, it nurtured an appreciation for our common home and it is something I love about being part of YML – our shared passion for sustainability and striving to take better care of Earth.
“I really loved running and participating in the art activity. We tapped into our creativity and chatted and reflected on what we had learned during our time together in a visual and practical way. We now carry with us the tote bags we created that serve as a symbol of the “seeds of Hope” that we planted for ourselves during this retreat.”
Cassandra P., YML member since 2014.
Just as communing with nature is a common reflection method, working with our hands and being creative helped us connect to what we find inspiring and hopeful. After our crafts, we had the opportunity to do a yin yoga class and use physical activity to connect our bodies and minds and to deepen our reflection. It became a full circle moment when our instructor coincidentally read us the same poem we had analysed earlier that day entitled ‘Hope is a Thing with Feathers’- by Emily Dickinson.
As always, the YML Vic retreat was a beautiful weekend for all involved. Our co-ordinator, Angela, summed it up perfectly – “To retreat from the busyness of modern life was such a luxury we were all so very grateful for. The opportunity to be out in nature, practice meditation through yoga and spend quality time with each other was such a blessing. We spent time reflecting on the hopes we had for ourselves and our world and planned out practical ways we could nurture seeds of hope in our communities. At a time when the world is in such crisis, our time together invigorated us to continue in our work.”
To find out more about Young Mercy Links –
https://institute.mercy.org.au/become-involved/become-a-young-mercy/
Written by Eve Johnson, YML member since 2018.