During our camp season on Good SOIL, to highlight our seasonal staff, we’re taking a trip around camp to all the favorite places they hold dear. For many, Camp Mount Luther is a haven, a place of peace, good memories, and fun times. Usually there’s one (or maybe a few!) place where a person feels particularly drawn: their favorite place to go. In those special spots, camp becomes embodied, and we grow deep roots into the very landscape of Camp Mount Luther. It’s not just a building. Or a campsite. Or a worship space. It’s a memory, a feeling, a place of community.
Let’s continue our tour of staff members’ favorite places…
“Ah dear nature—the mere remembrance, after a short forgetfulness, of the pine woods! I come to it as a hungry man to a crust of bread.” – Henry David Thoreau
Have you ever taken a long hike or spent several days backpacking through the wilds? Oh, how delicious a simple meal tastes after a day of exertion! Even a crust of bread can satisfy, acting as a feast for royalty.
Thoreau writes here about how the woods can sustain us and how quickly we can forget that. Even “after a short forgetfulness,” Thoreau simply remembers the mighty pines and longs for them, as a hiker longs for a meal at the end of a strenuous day.
Oh, how we long after the Word of God, too, don’t we? Associate Director and Pastor Jim certainly knows about that hunger. He’s dedicated his life to seeking God in Word, Sacrament, community, and yes, nature. Good news, because there’s ample amounts of that here at Camp Mount Luther!
When asked about his favorite spot at camp, Jim chose one that incorporates movement—of feet! Hiking is, after all, one of his favorite activities. He loves to walk what he calls the Big Loop Trail, which winds itself all around camp. Jim likes to start on the nature trail and then follow Big Loop through the Amphitheater, Pine Village, past the Adirondack shelters, across the pond road, into the spray fields, down through Stargazer, by the ropes course and Blacksnake, and finally back up to Evergreen.
Jim likes to hike Big Loop both alone and with others (usually Chad) “to process and discern and mull over whatever is going on in life or at work.” As an introvert who has to extrovert a lot, hiking in the woods by himself gives him that much needed crust of bread. He leaves not only having gotten good exercise, but also having thought, wondered, and imagined.
He’s particularly fond of a stand of pine trees (pictured above) about halfway through that grow all in a row beside the trail. He says, “I’m not sure what it is about them but I find them captivating.” I’m sure Thoreau would agree. Jim has an inexplainable hunger for those trees, as if to a crust of bread.
Scripture talks about trees, too. In Isaiah, the prophet writes:
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
Here at Camp Mount Luther, our mission is to plant God’s people in good soil. That’s just what this passage from Isaiah is talking about. Take note that he’s not calling himself an oak of righteousness, rather those that mourn in Zion. The brokenhearted, the captives, the oppressed—all these hurting children of God will be planted by the Lord to display the Lord’s righteousness. They will be oaks (or perhaps pines) of righteousness and display God’s glory, steadfastness, and love.
We all hunger for that crust of bread, the Word, those pines. When you next feel that longing, try Big Loop to satisfy and sustain. You might find Jim there, too.