Camp Musings- Week 2 or Thereabouts

 June 17, 2012

       There are ‘click’ moments at camp. Moments when a friendship happens, a group bonds. All of a sudden, things snap into place and some of the craziness of what I do starts to make sense.
To pin point the beginning of a friendship, glimpsing the start of a deeper connection, is a beautiful thing.  Though there are many beginnings that span time and place, traverse age and race, they all have one commonality- they are fleeting. Often it is as simple as being able to laugh over a room switch that had to take place in less than 5 minutes (the result a tousle of clothings and toiletries, sheets and papers and general whirlwind chaos).  Sometimes it’s a challenge from one person to another that becomes joint camaraderie   in the pursuit of excellence.  Yet to catch and see the beginnings  is to witness the miracle of 2 people coming to see each other a little more as God sees them- excellent saints in whom to delight.
It would follow that if to experience the formation of a friendship between 2  is miraculous; to watch a group come together is a tiny bit mind blowing. God works marvelously through the seemingly inane to do this.  Picture a lawn, damp from evening, and a group of giddy 14 yr olds reveling in the joy and giggles produced by a game of Dizzy Dizzy Dinosaur. A trivial game brought 6 girls together through the delight of laughter.  This is not to say games are the only way to bring people together.  Prayer brings a powerful unity – members of the Body of Christ coming before the same King, their mutual Father.  The recognition of weakness, the appeals for grace, the songs of praise are spoken around a solid wood table.  A team connects in the mutual give and take of each other, in the sublime privilege of lifting one another up in prayer before their immanent God.
Dell Cook says in his lecture on the Triune Life, “If you’re not loving someone, you’re dying.”  This is the give and take principle above.  To love someone is to give life to them and to live is to give love.  Cut off love and you’ve cut off life.  I this way we reflect our Creator, who creates and gives life (love) because He is life- and love.  Live this way and relationships and unity serve the purpose of reflecting the image of God Himself.
For this purpose, a group of strangers assembled. The flurry of logistics and schedules and the mental power it takes to navigate the mind of a 15-year old threaten to de-centralize this.  All of a sudden, though, God dazzles you with a ‘click,’ the beginning of a togetherness designed to reflect Himself.  And camp craziness becomes worth it.