Wow, it has been a while…Things have been a bit hectic and in fact I am on a 5 day trip with our High School students right now. I hope this isn’t a sign of some unhealthy and chaotic rhythm’s creeping back into my life. Need to keep that in check…
So, this trip we are on right now… I have had this burning passion/vision for a “summer camp” without many of the usual “campy” characteristics. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great things that happen at camp and many authentic people that run them, I just have a hard time with a week that is often set up to climax on the “alter call night.” It is almost as though it is one big show/entertainment with the hopes of logging a few more conversions to a post camp email update. I hope that doesn’t sound as sarcastic I it looks. There is often preaching about repenting from a lifestyle that doesn’t honor God or His Creation, while being fed sloppy joe’s and corn syrup “drink.” It can just feel disconnected.
This week Larry and I have done our best to set up an experience that takes into account ALL of life as an act of worship and repentance. This includes everything from what we are eating(lots of raw and local food), to how we entertain, to how we serve, to how we interact with each other, to how we view ourselves, all with the hopes of pointing us/connecting us to the God who beautifully put this composition together.
We obviously don’t have all this figured out, but there was an encouraging experience that gave some affirmation that we may be on the right track.
One of the first days of this experience, we participated in the Bridge of Hope. It is an organization that works through a nursing home that is designed for the elderly and the disabled. Primarily the mentally disabled. It is a beautiful place, with incredibly beautiful people that we had the opportunity to hang out with for a while.
As I sat and had a long conversation with a sweet lady named Sharon who had recently gone through back surgery, while at the same time undergoing dialysis, I experienced a moment that felt as though heaven was crashing into earth. I soaked in her story, from family history to spiritual beliefs and looked around at our students interacting and fully participating in these precious people’s lives right along side of me. At first the students were a bit scared and overwhelmed, but they tentatively began to ask names, shake hands and even give hugs. The people who lived in this home are a forgotten people. Many of them had families, but most of the families had abandoned them once they became disabled. This is a place where I could imagine Jesus would have chosen to hang out…
As I soaked in the scene I was on the edge of tears. When we serve these people, we are serving Jesus(Matt. 25:40). These students got to see Jesus first hand and I would have to imagine that these down and out folks were able to see Jesus right back through the smiles and hugs of these students.
Anyway, I am greatly encouraged to see where this “experiment” in a new way of living is headed. I am humbled and hopeful to be part of it.