This year my family and I attended CL Family Vacation for Maryland, DC, and Virginia, held at Canaan Valley Resort in Davis, West Virginia for the third time. We are so thankful to Tom and all who organize and participate in the vacation, of which the highlight for me is the hike that typically occurs on the second day. This year, late in the morning on the Fourth of July, about 200 vacationers of all ages set off on the Moon Rocks trail, which is about four miles long and is regarded as “strenuous.”

The Climb and Summit

It took a few hours to make it up to the peak, to what I think were the “moon rocks”, sandstone bedrock presumably formed millions of years ago. It was a joy, to be away from work, technology, and screens and to spend time singing and praying with this community of people. We sang many songs, including the famous “Country Roads” in honor of the home state, West Virginia, alongside the musicians who had carried guitars to the summit of the mountain. It was also beautiful to see the children in their own “huddle” at a corner of the Moon Rocks. And so it was here in this moment that we were deeply aware of the beauty of nature and the freedom of our choices that had led us to be on this mountaintop with one Another. It was no mere coincidence, but a concrete choice each person (or family) had taken to be there on this Fourth of July holiday. This led to a deepened sense of awareness of our shared existence, purpose and journey that is Christ. Fr. Giussani notes that “vacation is the noblest time of year, because it is the moment when one becomes as involved as he likes in the value he recognizes as dominant in his life.” (Vacations, the Time of Freedom)

The Fall and Rise

The steps back down the mountain were no less eventful than the climb and the summit. Michelle helped my daughter Shannon pray with and bury a dead snail. The children collected bags of blueberries while I listened to two marines bonding by sharing of stories about the use of drones in military combat. The temperature had now reached the peak of the day and was well into the 90s. We thought we had almost arrived back to base when one of our party fell, badly twisting her ankle. Clearly in much pain, she was unable to stand back up. As the crowd of shocked children and concerned adults began to form around her, a humbling realization set in, she would have to be carried down the mountain. There was no other choice but for our friend to give into this mercy offered through friendship. As Giussani writes: “And so here is the miracle of mercy: the desire to change. This defines the new present for sinful humanity. The word “present” is essential in this conversation: in fact, when change is left to our decision – “I should change” – it is always put off to the future, destined to be the fruit of self-love, one would distance oneself from the principal instrument of God: the present.” (In Search of the Human Face) Giussani writes that people are fragile and always fall and hence are in need of his merciful presence to be changed. Our injured friend showed us her acceptance of God’s mercy by letting herself literally be carried, in shifts of two, by Ses, Stefano, Anton, and Antonio. Guided by the Marines, the team snapped into action, executing the “two man carry” technique transporting our friend for the three-quarters of a mile back to the parking lot. A friend at the School of Community reminded us lately that there is beauty in everything; we witnessed this shining through as the men shared the experience of carrying their friend using the last of their energy and the remaining water that one of them had, to ensure the wounded soul could make it back to the parking lot. Although we were all tired and in need of rest and revival, I could not help feeling sad that it was over, for inside I had been fully awakened by what I had encountered and shared at Moon Rocks, WV, on this Fourth of July. Freedom is dependence on God.

Claire Telford, Maryland.