There were just so many little, frustrating incidents today. The kitchen staff was stressed, the health inspector was here, things got broken, kids tripped…it seemed as though it was going to be a pretty horrible morning. It’s now obvious that all those little things that tripped us up and distracted us this morning were all on purpose. The way that summer staffer Rachel Goss put it this morning to me (a very frustrated intern) was that the devil knew that today was going to be powerful, and knew that today was going to move people closer into Jesus’s arms, so therefore, he set up all these little distractions to keep us both physically and mentally away from the power that was happening here.
However, God conquered today over all that. There were four prayer stations set up around the grounds at which you could kneel or sit or stand and just reflect. The first station had a large black backdrop that simply read ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ At other stations you could write in chalk how God has been changing you this week. Forgiveness and loving myself were two of the beautiful themes that emerged from the scribbles of theses heart-felt campers. There was a simple quietness as people knelt in sublimation unto God. Tears were flowing freely and God’s presence was right there working in nature. Within the first 15 minutes, a gentle shower turned into a full storm but yet people continued to kneel in the rain, letting it wash over them. Julio, one our deans this week, mentioned at the worship service afterward that the rain seemed to wash away sins. The chalkboard I was in front of slowly disintegrated as the rain beat against it and it became washed clean again. There could be no more powerful metaphor of how God’s grace works than what happened right in front of my eyes.
As we later sang this afternoon, if His grace is an ocean, then we are all sinking…
