Grace Upon Grace - August 5, 2024
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 80; Judges 6:25-40; Acts 2:37-47; John 1:1-18
In the beginning there were 42 young adults from various backgrounds, faith traditions, genders, and ages. They came together primarily because they all share one basic love and that’s for Camp McDowell. Many of these young adults have grown up at camp. They’ve been there with family on parish retreats, Division of Youth events and for a few brief days at summer camp. Some have only been there a few times while others can’t remember when Camp McDowell didn’t feel like their second home. They compete with young people from across the diocese for the available staff positions each summer. Some have been turned down in previous years and have finally made the cut. The hours are long, the summer heat and humidity can be brutal, the food and lodging are nothing to write home about and the pay is only slightly better than a stipend. None of them do it for the pay or any of the glamorous reasons many young people seek out summer jobs. They do it out of love for the camp and for the friends they have made there in years past.
When they arrive, they’re like the ingredients of a great gumbo. They’re a variety of flavors expressed in all their different personalities and skills. At first some aren’t sure why they’re there but by the end of the summer they know exactly why they were there. After weeks of hard work, raw edges soften and with hearts that become full to bursting, they become one community. Each of them is filled with a sense of light and life and love unlike anything they’ve ever experienced before.
The light that fills them is a light that shines in the darkness and no amount of darkness that comes with challenges or hardship, heartbreak or disappointment will be able to overcome this light.
The gospel of John tells us that “to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” These young people become brothers and sisters not by blood but by claiming their place as a child of God, living out the faith that is born from God and shines through them to others.
The Word becomes flesh not just once but each time one of us opens our hearts to receive the love of God through Jesus Christ. As we share that love we spread Jesus’ light and love to others. That light lives at Camp McDowell. It became flesh as it inhabited each of those young staff members. They each shine with his glory, the glory of God, each full of God’s grace and truth. I once heard Bp. Kee say that the beauty of Special session isn’t limited to the opportunities it offers the campers, but it’s also for the young people who volunteer, willingly giving up weeks of their summer to work without pay, to be the 24-hour companion of an adult with mental or physical disabilities. Giving the teenagers the opportunity to serve this way is humbling, and life-changing work. It’s the same with the regular camp sessions. It is a humbling, hard, life changing job. There is not a single one of those young people who I wouldn’t welcome into my home. They are some of the finest, most responsible, caring, big-hearted people I’ve ever met. I serve as a session director for the campers, but I’ve realized I do it as much if not more for the time I’m allowed with the staff. These are the people who vote, who will be raising families, sitting in the pews, running our churches, and taking care of our world.
“From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” These young adults are a testimony to why Camp McDowell is so important, why we need to ensure that we always take care of this precious gift which God has given our diocese.
Faithfully,
Sally+
Thoughts to Consider: What gift can you give a child that is as valuable as an experience at a place that is based on Jesus’ unconditional love, acceptance, and fun? What would our diocese be like without the thousands of ways that Camp McDowell has brought us together? Consider how your personal stewardship extends from our parish to Camp.