By Jim Vitale

Scientists estimate that there are roughly 8.7 million species of organisms in our world, with only about 1.3 million of them having been catalogued. This means that roughly 86% of land species and 91% of marine species remain to be discovered. Those numbers are simply staggering. While most of these undiscovered species are likely microbial and invisible to the naked eye, there are some who believe that there are plenty of larger species yet to be found in the most remote parts of the world.

In our information-saturated, technology-rich, hyper-paced world, I find it hard to believe that there are any species left to be discovered, let alone most of them. We live in a society that presents itself as all-knowing and dominant over nature. We are uninterested in mystery, unless we are in the pursuit of “solving” it (as if all mysteries are even capable of being solved). And yet the fact remains that what we know about the universe is miniscule compared to what we don’t know.

Part of the beauty of a place like Camp Mount Luther is that it can help us to cultivate our sense of awe and wonderment. A place like camp can help us to get comfortable with mystery, with the awesome truth that we simply cannot know everything. And I’m not just talking about spiritual mysteries (though of course those are also awesome and important). I mean to say that our Creator crafted a cosmos so vast and intricate that we will never know everything (or even a majority of things) about it. Sometimes it is important to simply bask in the spectacularity of that truth—and Camp Mount Luther is a great place to do it.

But don’t take my word for it! Come to camp! Walk around our 400 acres. Marvel at what you can see, yes—but wonder, too, at all the undiscovered, hidden species that live in the soil below your feet or high in the trees or under the mountains.

I’ll leave you with a poem written by one of my favorite writers, Wendell Berry. It’s called “To the Unseeable Animal” and it captures perfectly the mysterious spirit of creation.