thanks shannon

-
Next week, I will make my annual pilgrimage out to Camp Allen, near Navasota, TX for the 28th year. My first visit was in 1985, and my parents tell me the story that when they first took me to camp, after they got me registered, they tried to find me to say goodbye, but I was busy helping other campers unload  their cars and get moved into their cabins. I was hooked from the start.

I learned about God at Camp Allen. I learned that God was bigger than I had ever imagined. Each year, it seems, I return and in some way, my understanding of God grows. Being in nature, being in community, playing, sharing, walking from place to place; it all teaches me again and again. It has shaped who I am as a Christian, and Episcopalian, and a priest. I go there to serve the church, to be there for a new generation of campers, but I get so much out of my time there. The staff in the above picture and the one below is exactly the same. Different people, but the same spirit. The campers are the same, too. There's that camper who will start the week homesick, but fall in love with camp, and cry when it's time to leave. There's that camper who won't stop talking, ever; always another story to tell. There's the arts and crafts wizard. It just happens that way. There will also be campers who's lives are tragic, and Camp Allen is an amazing respite, a safe place to experience love and to heal a little.

We'll all show up strangers and leave friends. At that first session in '85 I met Kevin. We fought over a girl early in the week, and we became friends by the end of the week (Shannon, the girl, moved on from both of us, and went to the dance with Blake.) Now 28 years later Kevin and I are going back as priests to be directors at the same camp. There will be some campers fighting over a girl at the beginning of the week, and we'll have to wait 28 years to see how their stories unfold.

Comments

  1. Big FunAugust 7, 2013 at 8:54 PM

    Watermelon. and Watermelon. Never forget how much I love you both. Wish I was going to be there with you!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

plastic: a spiritual perspective

-
Image
Plastic bag in front of Trinity by the Sea On a recent trip to Austin, I was surprised and delighted not to be handed a plastic bag when I checked out of a grocery store. I wasn't buying much, so I was able to carry out my things without remembering to bring in my reusable bags. For some time now, I've gotten in the habit of turning down plastic bags in convenience stores when they try to put my humble bag of sunflower seeds, lonely, in another bag. The plastic grocery bag has become like a handshake at the end of the deal: it seems to make the shopping experience complete. It is such an ingrained habit, that the person behind the cash register sometimes gets a suspicious look when I ask for no bag, as if thinking, "This yahoo is threatening our way of life!" I think about habits a lot, as a Christian of the Episcopal persuasion. Our practices and our experiences in everyday life shape the way we understand our relationship with God, with others, and with ours
Read more

movin' the tide

-
Image
I recently saw a performance by Shinyribs Russell and heard him tell the background story on his song, " Who Built the Moon ." He told a funny story about a conspiracy theorist's idea the moon was built by someone. I like the song for what it is, never mind the conspiracy. That song went through my head again and again this weekend as the Super Moon rose from the gulf horizon, sailed across the sky, and set over the bay. The moon, "hangin' in the sky, shakin' the oceans, and movin' the tide" has long shaped our human lives. It has helped us mark time, it can guide us in our fishing habits, and it inspires artists, musicians, and fireside philosophers. Life looks different in the moonlight. On Sunday morning, as I finished writing my sermon, I took a break to walk outside to see the Super Moon set, and I caught it hanging in the porch of the church. That night, Laura, Eli, and I went to the beach to watch it rise again. Someone told me it's t
Read more
-
Image
For the past three years, I have preached the Gospel Easter Morning including a pop song. The first year it was Widespread Panic's Diner . Last year Prince's I Would Die For You , and this year, the Grateful Dead's Ripple. Music is so inspiring to me, and it is an easy connection to relate to God, Resurrection, and new life through some of my favorite songs, even when they don't use traditional church language. Easter Morning 2023 My earliest impression of the Grateful Dead was as a pre-teen, staying the night at long time friends of my parents and sharing a room with Monroe their son. Earlier in the day Monroe had sent me down a fairly steep hill on his old bike which had no brakes. I managed to stop by veering off the road into the open arms of a magnolia tree. Monroe was so cool. So that night, after having some Neapolitan ice cream we watched MTV. If you remember MTV, you’ll understand how excited he was that a music video of one of his favorite bands, the Grateful
Read more