Camp, Part 3

Here's part three:

___

Lesson 2: Avoiding the Task At Hand

Although the purpose of this camp, ostensibly, was to learn about God, He definitely took a backseat to no less than three or four other areas of concern. First and foremost were the horses, of which there were dozens. I haven’t mentioned it before, but the camp was actually a co-ed organization (I’m assuming it had quite the legal team behind it), and there were many more girls than boys in attendance. The reason for this is, of course, one of the oldest truths known to man: GIRLS GO APESHIT OVER HORSES. I don’t get it myself, but I know it’s true because I saw it proven repeatedly throughout the week. Indeed, you always knew if one was clopping around within nearby, because you’d suddenly hear a chorus of maybe ten to fifteen girl-voices chiming in unison, “Awwwww.”

The campers were organized into about four groups based on age, and each group would take the horses out for a ride at least once every day. We’ll get to more of that later.

The second major focus of the camp was Bible study, which could more accurately be described as avoiding Bible study. The counselors (usually college kids who’d failed to get jobs at Kmart) had no problem with this. At least mine didn’t. I can remember more than one study session quickly devolving into a discussion of pop culture. Being that we were out in the middle of nowhere and the counselors had been there for about three months, they were desperate to talk about anything not related to the camp. One day it was discovered that someone in my group had brought a Blues Traveler CD along with them. It was immediately borrowed (and played nonstop) by the guy who ran the mess hall. This should tell you how dire their situation was: They were happy to repeatedly listen to “Runaround” because they had not yet grown to hate it through constant radio overplay.

Since the camp was co-ed, the third priority (okay, probably the first) for almost everybody was thinking about – and doing things with – members of the opposite sex. Not for me, though. You know.

Maybe after all that stuff we’d think about God. But probably not.

That is not to say I feel I lost anything by not discussing theological questions with my counselor. I think I had more fun by avoiding those questions altogether. In our culture, spirituality is most often reserved for the dying, those who have just given up a long-time addiction, or conservative political candidates. It’s not something for fourteen-year-olds. Sorry, God.

___

More tomorrow.

- TJG