CYPRESS HILLS PROVINCIAL PARK (Qu’A) — Rev. Diane Guilford spoke and led discussions on the theme, “The Light of Christ,” at this year’s retreat for lay people held at Camp Harding Aug. 23 to 25.
Each day featured worship, talks and discussions, with excellent meals and plenty of free time to enjoy God’s creation in beautiful Cypress Hills Provincial Park. Some participants stayed in cabins at Camp Harding, while others stayed in the nearby hotel.
Guilford, a retired priest from the Diocese of Rupert’s Land, gave four sessions on the theme, and also led worship including Sunday Eucharist in the outdoor chapel. Parishioners from St. Mary the Virgin, Maple Creek, joined them in St. Mary in the Pines.
A hearty lunch was served after the service, as the wind-up of the retreat.
During the retreat, Guilford used many different passages from Scripture, all involving light — from the first light in creation as told in Genesis, to the pillar of fire giving light that led Moses and the people out of Egypt, through the Psalms and Isaiah, to the many references to Christ as the Light of the World in the New Testament, especially in John’s gospel.
On Saturday morning, the retreatants discussed many things that can distract people from noticing God and from seeing Christ’s light in our lives. The familiar parable of the Prodigal Son was read, and then acted out by the retreatants. They discussed how their characters from the story would have felt in the moment.
Then they studied a print of Rembrandt’s 1669 painting Return of the Prodigal Son, which shows a man dressed in rags, kneeling at the feet of a well-dressed older man.
None of the people pictured are named, but viewers presume the kneeling man is the younger son being embraced by his father. Guilford pointed out a small detail that no one had yet noticed – one hand of the “father” figure looks masculine, and the other is delicate and very feminine.
This caused an “a-ha!” moment and people said, “So, the father is really God the Father, who is both male and female,” and, therefore, the “son” is all of us, who despite being unworthy, are welcomed by God.
