praying place

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This is one of those little praying places. A spot I've returned to again and again over the years. When I returned to this spot on the Guadalupe River, at Camp Capers, I remembered some of my prayers from that summer in 1998 when I was on staff there.

That summer I brought a site-specific outdoor education curriculum (it had been an independent study toward my B.S. in Geography Education from Southwest Texas, San Marcos.) That curriculum helped me weasel my way onto the summer staff, since I had never gone to Camp Capers as a camper. I made it on, and was allowed to take each cabin for a nature hike and do some outdoor education. I enjoyed my time with the campers, and I think that's the first summer I tried to grow a full beard. I figured it went with the outdoor theme. That summer some of the other staff started calling me "Nature Boy."

It was also a dark time for me. I was trying to understand my calling to the priesthood, seeking to trust that calling, and wondering if my evolving faith was the right kind of faith for a priest to have. So, I would slip away to this spot, and talk to God about whether I had enough faith in God. That's how it goes.

At clergy conference, Bishop Laura Ahrens began our reflections by inviting us to remember our calling to the priesthood, and to get back in touch with that time when we heard Jesus saying, "I love you, and I want you to go be a priest in my church." At least part of that conversation happened at that spot. I was able to revisit that conversation where the conversation happened.

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