Lessons at summer camp

by Meg Dendler

I had a wonderful lesson in humility and spiritual listening while I was working at summer camp last year. My role during this particular session was to serve as a Christian Science practitioner for a group of 34 high school students in the camp’s junior leadership program. Along with prayerful support and answering questions, the job often put me in the role of counselor and helping hand.

This particular lesson came on ropes course day. For those not familiar with the concept, a ropes course is a series of rope challenges (swinging, hanging, balancing) that take place 30 feet up in the air with the participants well secured with ropes and harnesses. Moving between large telephone-like poles, the kids enjoyed crossing one element after another—kind of like Tarzan and Jane.

When it’s time to exit the ropes course and return to the ground, there are two zip lines. Again, hooked onto a wire overhead, the kids would slip from a sitting position off the edge of a platform (again, 30 feet in the air) and then “zip” off about 100 yards away, until momentum carried them back again to the middle of the line where they could be safely disconnected and returned to earth

For some kids, this was the best part. For others, it was not; it was sheer terror. My counselor-like role was to help catch the kids as they came to rest at the bottom of the zip line. It was complicated, involving a ladder, moving around safety hooks, and a team of kids that needed supervising while doing all of the above.

At one point, I noticed that one of the campers, Kelly, did not want to come down. She was clearly scared. While she was hesitating, I helped someone on the other zip line, and then noticed that Kelly was no longer in place to come down. Other kids told me that she had climbed down—not an unheard of option—so I didn’t give it much more thought.

Well, quite some time later, I noticed the counselor at the top of the course putting her into place again. She was still up there! And she was still just as scared. It quickly became clear that I needed to put on my hat as a spiritual resource, so I walked up and stood right under Kelly’s nose at the bottom of the course.

Her friends were yelling encouraging things about God’s love for her and her safety in His care, but I could tell it was not getting through. We talked for a few minutes, but she was pretty much frozen with fear. The counselor was determined not to give her a little push off the platform (a push she was hoping for), because she needed to find the courage and overcome this challenge on her own. Right there I prayed directly to our Father-Mother God for help as to how I could best help her. What did she need to hear? What could I do or say?

The answer was quick and specific and clear: Sing to her. Okay, I could do that.

“What’s your favorite hymn, Kelly?” I called up to her.

“I don’t know any hymns,” she sobbed back.

Of course, she did know plenty of hymns, and the counselors working with her on the course had already sung some with her, but she was just really scared and really frustrated. It sure didn’t sound like she wanted to be sung to. So I listened quietly again.

Sing to her. It was very clear.

Turning to some of her friends standing in front of me, I asked them what one of her favorite hymns is and maybe we could all sing it together. They laughed and yelled up,

“If you don’t come down, we’re going to sing to you!”

They said it like it was a threat! That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. It didn’t seem very spiritual or holy!

Without missing a beat, the group began to sing “Build Me Up, Buttercup” at the top of their lungs. This is a big song at that camp and often sung to friends at mealtime—usually at full volume. Instantly, everyone around, including the big, football player male counselors, were singing. Kelly smiled, laughed, and then ZIP, off she went right over my head.

Who knew? The message was right even if I interpreted it incorrectly. I talked with Kelly later about that moment, and she said that the fear just drained away as soon as her friends started singing. She didn’t need deep spiritual thoughts, she needed a song filled with joy that would break the hold that fear had on her. 30 seconds of singing and she was down. That was a wonderful lesson for me, and one that is helping me still

I was also thrilled to hear that Kelly prayerfully prepared ahead of time this summer before camp. She had a wonderful experience up on that same ropes course. But that’s her story to tell. Watch for it here soon!