Confirmation Trip to Becket

by Chris Farley

Larry R.’s smile is extraordinarily irritating at 7:30 AM. It’s 33 degrees outside, the sun has barely made it over the tops of the trees and Larry comes bounding in to tell us that it’s time to get up. Larry’s annoying cheerfulness aside, however, the confirmation class’s trip to Camp Becket was a success. Between canoeing, climbing on unstable ropes thirty feet above the ground, and run-ins with flying squirrels, the confirmands and the leaders learned a lot, both about each other and about how camping when it is barely above freezing is a bad idea.

We embarked early on Saturday morning to a chorus of grumbles about the early departure. I was admittedly reluctant to go along. One of my principal philosophies is that nature is something to be protected from, and camping seemed like an invitation for nature to prove my philosophy. Nonetheless, I left the church parking lot along with the other confirmands and leaders. By the looks on the faces of many of the parents, they were more worried than we were.

When we arrived after our two and a half hour drive, two Becket staff members immediately greeted the group. They led us in a few games designed to help us get to know each other. I really don’t remember the games at all because the half an hour meet-and-greet with the Becket staff was hardly the most interesting thing to happen the first day.

Our accommodations were not exactly luxurious, but certainly better than I had hoped. Our group of 12 confirmands and 5 leaders was housed in Gibson Hall. The building was essentially a large auditorium, complete with stage lights, but also had several rooms with three or four beds in each. The entire first floor was the stage and a large, open floor space. The open floor was surrounded by locked doors, except for one room, which had a large drum set (these were put to use later in the evening by confirmands eager to test out their percussion talent) and a piano. The second floor had a banister, which spanned the perimeter of the building, with rooms coming off the hallways on the second floor.

After we dumped our belongings in our rooms on the second floor, the confirmands went outside to play Frisbee, and another group went “exploring.” I am glad I did neither, because instead, I had the opportunity to witness a most remarkable event. Tami Burks shouted down to the gathering of confirmation leaders that she had a squirrel in her room. The confirmation leaders and I went up to the second floor, and sure enough, a squirrel kept trying to climb up the window, apparently not realizing that the window was solid. Tami B., Larry R., and Susan J. formulated a plan to run in and open the window to let the squirrel out, so it would not run out of the door and around the building.

Susan and Larry crept in, but Larry was more concerned with getting a picture than opening the window. Cris T. closed the door so the squirrel wouldn’t escape, but when Susan screamed, he opened the door. Then I was scared because I thought the squirrel was coming after me. I ran with a speed that surprised even myself to the banister on the opposite side. As I looked down, I saw the squirrel scuttling on the floor below. According to the people who weren’t running in fright at the time, the squirrel leaped up on the banister and glided down to the floor below, before running out the door. The squirrel was not just a squirrel. It was a flying squirrel.

After that brief, but eventful encounter the group headed towards lunch, wondering exactly what creatures we would find when we returned. The food was abysmal, but that was to be expected, and after the candy that many confirmands had feasted upon in the car, some were not that hungry. Twenty minutes later, I found myself in a canoe with Susan J. Thank God she was there! Having been up to Becket before, she was able to keep us out of a game that usually resulted in a majority of people being wet. Instead, we watched amusedly from afar, seeing the boaters splash each other in an attempt to retrieve a flag that they had on their canoe. Whoever had the most flags would win. All too soon, Susan was navigating us back towards the dock. (Without her instruction, I would have floated to Beijing by now).

The latter half of the afternoon was spent doing “low ropes.” These elements usually have very little to do with ropes at all. Instead, they are trust building activities that take place, at most, a few feet above the ground. Still, the staff is neurotic about safety, so that consumed a considerable portion of the time allotted to the ropes course. We participated in three “low ropes” activities. The elements all required that every member of the group participate. While some aspects of the activities were certainly boring, we knew each other much better by the end of the activities.

Dinner followed the “low ropes,” and then we headed to the obligatory s’more session at the camp library. But before we started melting chocolate and crunching on graham crackers, Tom H. spoke to use about his faith journey. Many of the confirmands, including myself, found it very interesting, and we look forward to listening to the other confirmation leaders give similar talks. The talk, however, was eclipsed by s’mores. Camping cannot exist without s’mores. After 45 minutes of gooey, chocolatey goodness and debates about exactly how best to cook the marshmallows, we started walking back for the night. On the walk back, I had a fascinating conversation with the confirmation leaders. Personally, I doubt religion and find it difficult to believe in God, instead believing in science. But I was still unsure. So I asked the leaders my questions and they all had different answers. It was truly intriguing and has caused me to reconsider a lot of what I thought I knew. I even had a conversation about theoretical physics with Tom!

The group reassembled at Gibson Hall to play a game called “Alpha-Beta.” We were split into two groups, the “Alphas” and the “Betas.” Each group was given a culture. That is, in certain situations we were told to act a certain way. The Alphas, for example, enjoy community, while the Betas enjoy open space. The Alphas would send a few members to the Betas and vice versa. We interacted with the other group to see how we were different and how we were the same. But surprisingly, the cultures started to meld into one, with some people abandoning their prescribed culture in an attempt to better interact with the opposite group. Unfortunately, the activity had a limited amount of time to play out, so we were not able to see the end result, but it was a valuable exercise all the same.

It was the following morning, after a night of just barely managing to stay warm that Larry’s immovable smile annoyed me. But the rest of the day was excellent. High ropes (or the part of a ropes course that actually has anything to do with ropes) are exciting and “fun.” While “low ropes” are designed to test the group’s ability to work together, the high ropes have a larger focus on one person pushing him or herself. Still, the high ropes at Becket incorporated both concepts.

The first element I did was essentially a huge ladder, but the rungs were spaced so that it would be nearly impossible for one person to climb up alone. On top of that, the ladder is suspended between two poles, so it swings as you try to climb. Along with Billy S., my partner, we pushed, pulled, yelled, and talked each other up the ladder. We were the first people to do that particular element, but we succeeded in reaching the top.

The second element that was available for our use seemed easy compared to the ladder. This was another two-person element. The element is comprised of a steel cable that runs between two poles and a few feet above the cable is a rope that starts at each pole and ends in the middle of the cable. Each participant has to climb up the pole using the rungs on the outside, then walk across the cable, using the rope for support. However, when the ropes ended in the middle, the participants have to switch ropes and continue walking to the opposite pole. One of the things that Becket did best was incorporating everyone. With two two-person elements, there were four people climbing around and two other people were assigned to help the belay team. On my climb on the second element, the “rock” (the person who holds onto the belayers harness to prevent an accident) was Peter A. The irony of having a person named Peter being my “rock” did not escape me.

So that ended our time at Becket. We packed; we ate lunch (thank God we didn’t have to eat their food for dinner), and loaded ourselves into the cars. In an effort to make sure that all confirmands met all of the leaders, we shuffled the cars. So, on the way back I had a thrilling discussion about gun control with Cris T. I am the first to admit that I had doubts about this camping weekend, and I still have my gripes (the food and the fact that Becket didn’t splurge on heat). But personally, the conversations about religion and faith with the confirmation leaders were invaluable. The weekend was a success and I believe it indicates an excellent year to come.

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