Finding God at Camp

In one of the last blog posts, "I have Seen Theophany," I mentioned that sometimes we try to find God where he has not promised to be.  Christian camps seem to be instigators of this problem too.  How often have you heard someone say something to the effect of "going into nature to find God," or, "at camp, you just feel God's presence"?  Sure, God is omnipresent (See Psalm 139), but is God more present at Camp or in the wilderness than He is say in your own home?  Of course not.

We do get (or I should say it is possible to get) an emotional lift at Camp because the works of God are great and glorious (Psalm 111), but that is not to say our faith is being strengthened because we are at camp or that we are getting closer to God because we are spending time in his creation.  Camp, and everything at camp, is a wonderful first-article gift; that is, something that God has made and given to us for our earthly benefit.
For our spiritual and eternal benefit, God works through means.  He works through His Word, through His Baptism and through His Body & Blood.  These are the tools God uses to increase our faith.

Finding God in nature, or equating an emotional lift with a stronger faith is potentially spiritually damaging - there is no promise that that feeling will last.  At the end of camp how sad are we to leave!? What happens then?  Do we need camp to actually be strengthened in our faith?  It may feel like it, but this is where the true comfort lies: God strengthens our faith in His Word and sacraments, whether we feel it or not.  God's doing it, stop worrying and believe.

So, the next time you are checking out other Christian Camps to attend or send your children to (Camp Lor-Ray only runs a few weeks in the summer after all :-), look at what that camp is saying.
Do they claim to get closer to God and let you feel His presence, or do they acknowledge that only through the Word and sacraments does God build and confirm faith?  That's the difference between relying on a camp and on men to strengthen faith and relying on God to strengthen faith.

Camp Lor-Ray relies on God. We just have a ton of fun doing it in the woods.  I know you will too.