Adventure 923: A View from the Perch-Little Eden Camp-Homeward Bound/36

Many lament, as I did yesterday, the division facing our nation. Today, I'll offer another side of the tetrahedron, positing that perhaps it's ever been so in America. As we drove across the plains today, we listened to a portion of the book Undaunted Courage. While I don't really qualify as a member of the landed gentry of Virginia, or the high minded elites that forged our country, I can identify somewhat because I personally hold in one hand the lofty goals of righteous living. In the other I often succumb to the temptation of the seven deadly sins. Forever split; forever trying to balance. Thomas Jefferson was a man of such conflicts. Although he abhorred  the idea of slavery, he lived the practicality of owning many. He hoped the "next' generation would reach the righteous goal of equality among all men. As a member of the gentry, he lived in no such lofty space. But he was indeed lofty. When he was elected President, there was a tie. The Federalists of the day questioned the legitimacy of the election (sounds familiar). It went to Congress, still tied, until Alexander Hamilton led a group that broke the tie. Even then, the Federalists, led by Aaron Burr found themselves on the wrong side of history. Even more so when Jefferson made arguably the greatest American deal ever with the Louisiana purchase, the Federalists objected. Some said it was folly because the country had little money and more land already than we could manage. I found myself thinking as I listened to the intertwined notion of character building (Lewis) and nation building (Jefferson) that our country has lived on the razor's edge since the beginning. And we've had great leaders. Judy and I decided to take a side trip today into the badlands of North Dakota in Teddy Roosevelt's National Park. Talk about a great leader (With warts of course). I also found myself questioning where Trump gets this idea that America is going to perdition. All I see is people living their lives freely. I see no victims. All I see is freeways filled with trucks moving commerce, people going places, and evidence of infrastructure being rebuilt and maintained. Though suffering exists, so does industry, prosperity, and opportunity.  Every restaurant we enter is bustling. Every shelf in every market is full of goods. Every family I see hugs their infants and nurtures their toddlers. I saw cars and vans full of families standing in awe at the viewpoint overlooking the little Missouri. All seemed grateful to be there, and it seems to me that despite hardship life is good, especially today.

We traveled into the Badlands, thinking of events and people that made America great

Everywhere we go, we marvel at the geological wonders.

One such wonder is Judy getting to drive.

The North entrance of Teddy Roosevelt National Park includes a scenic drive through some amazing rock formations. Not to be outdone is God's sky above.

All over America there are signs of resilience and great leadership. Here's another example of CCC construction during and just after the great depression.

Sacrifices must be made. They're just as real as compromise and contradiction.

Willie says, "Blue sky, nothing but blue sky do I see."

Just imagine the cattle drives along the little Missouri river. Westward Ho!

Or imagine the time line that created these layers. God's time.

Maybe someday, we'll be remnants of a bygone era, just like this fella. Who knows?

Adventure 922: A View from the Perch-Little Eden Camp-Homeward Bound/35

We bid good by to our family with hugs and tugs just before 7 A.M. this morning. A good week was had by all. We made it to the Ludington Ferry (SS Badger) with time to spare, and joined a couple hundred of our newest friends for a peaceful sail across Lake Michigan. Contrary to the forecast, it didn't rain. In fact, some blue sky peeked out from the clouds, and by the time we got to Manitowac, it was sunny, hot, and humid. Our car came out early from the ferry and we were on the road by 12:15. We took a route through Green Bay and then the Twin Cities, The Green Bay leg was painless. The Minneapolis not so much. Stuck in a bumper to bumper 80 MPH flow, it was more stressful than I like (I am retired, after all). But no old man mumbling allowed, and certainly no day dreaming. Driving required purpose. Fortunately, I'm passively aggressive enough to survive in such an environment. We cruised safely into St. Cloud right at 6 P.M. We're now snuggled in to our hotel watching the Olympic trials and awaiting the next leg of our journey.

I read Richard Rohr's post every day as part of my morning devotion. Today's post talked about crying as a way to connect with God, something not so admired if you're a man in our culture. Part of today's challenge was to write a lament, much like the writers of the Psalms. Mine is below.

My Lament

God of truth and grace,

I cry aloud to you, that You may hear me.

How long, O Lord, will You forget the needy?

How long will You allow the rich to ride the backs of the poor? 

How long will You suffer unjust wars, immoral men, and ill placed motives?

How long will You tolerate lies, half-truths, and propaganda to dominate the narrative?

How long will You accept self-righteous humans judging one another?

How long will You hide Your face from the faithful?

How long will You endure dark hearted cruelty?

How long  must we wait for Your promise to be fulfilled?

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God.

Give light to my eyes so that I may witness Your plan.

Give rise to my spirit so that I may meet each day praising Your magnificence.

Give me hope that I may be worthy of Your kingdom.

Give me strength that I may live a life pleasing in Your presence.

Give me patience that I may humbly accept Your sweet time.

Give me an answer to this prayer, or I may sleep the sleep of death.

Because, O Lord, 

I trust Your steadfast love.

My heart longs for Your salvation.

And my will forever rejoices in Your service.

S.S. Badger, coal smoke awaiting departure.

Good bye Michigan, hello Wisconsin.

Fun facts.

Ukulele Man entertained on the sail over.

On the road again, Willie.

A good week for the sisters.

A distinctive week for the adults.

Until we meet again.

Adventure 921: A View from the Perch-Little Eden Camp/34

Time moves ever on, and everything changes, especially the weather. It was so chilly this morning that we snuggled under the covers until nearly eight, four hours late for Judy, and a couple hours late for me. Despite the chilly night, the day proved warm and sunny, and refreshingly absent of humidity, bugs, stress, or despair. I mean the only sounds that can be heard around here are chortles of joy from the children, soft babbles of conversation from the women, and the constant lap of lake waves onto the the shore. I guess that's why they call it Little Eden. The big event of the day was Micah catching a perch, otherwise known as "Moby". It was nice for the fisherman to break their maiden. I'm sure on tonight's foray, they'll pull in more fish that the Apostles after Jesus joined them. The rest of the day, we filled the time with card games, puzzles, snacking, lunch, snacking, chatter, baby watching (mostly Nora), and other forms of general lackadaisical behavior. I mean what is camp for if it's not for idle pursuits. And of course, tradition was honored when we stood in line for the famous Thursday night BBQ chicken, which, if my bloated belly is any indication, acquitted itself quite well. So, even though I can barely see my fingers over my distended belly as I type this blog, I must say that life is good, especially today.

Addendum: Johnny Crisp was called back to Atlanta, so there will be no devotional message tonight. I much appreciated listening this week. His viewpoint served to help clarify my own thinking. For that I'm grateful, and perhaps surprisingly, there were some places of agreement. In that there is hope.

After dinner, we took a little walk in the woods behind camp. The woods here are hardwood, mostly oak, and nearly all deciduous. Much different from the forests back home.

Chicken on the grill.

The line to get chicken.

Luther and Mary Ann taking their place in the chicken line.

Nora Jane having a laughing fit.

Our neighbor, Ed, showing us that there are indeed fish in the lake.

The chicken BbQ crew.

All are welcome in the city of Atlanta.

Maybe just enough for a small perch taco.

The waterfront.

Nora, having another fit.

Micah filleting his perch.

What? Another fit, Nora.

Grandpa and Wes assembling the bi-plane.

Adventure 920: A View from the Perch-LIttle Eden Camp/33

Another day of traditions. Since it was my turn to contribute, I cooked a breakfast scramble. The ladies played cards. They worked puzzles. We took a boat ride for a "Beer on the Pier", and the adults had dinner out at Glenwood, which advertises a distinctive dining experience. It was. Our waitress, Chloe, was fabulous. She's a born and bred Onekemite. She calls us visitors, "Fudgies". She graduated in a class of thirty-seven. She said she knew everyone in her class, including their middle names. She listed the view and the water as the best features of Onekema. This year she will graduate from Ferris State to become a secondary Language Arts teacher. She gives me hope. Her excitement, her positive attitude, and her "I can make a difference" attitude bubbled out of her like the fresh water springing from the fountain at the edge of Little Eden. The message I've been hearing this week at worship service is that the country is on the verge of ruination egged on by the wiles of Satan and the ravages of modern culture. The sky is falling as it were. I take a different view. The world is my oyster. I can be anything; I can do anything; I can make a difference; I can overcome any challenge. Everyone is free to make their way as they can. This is the spirit of the America I grew up with. I believe it still exists. Young people like Chloe, young parents like Scott and Kate, like Micah and Kim, like many others fill me with the thrill of the possibility of lives lived well, lives lived with purpose, lives lived with courage, lives lived with love. This, and my own lived experience tells me that the American dream is alive and well. It's what makes me appreciate that life is good, especially today.

Addendum: Tonight, Johnny Crist's talk focused on what he views as the all out culture war. He led off with a reference to a 1970s song by the Temptations called Ball of Confusion. He followed that with several examples of people being canceled for speaking "truth", several references to scripture (some New Testament: Romans 11: 6-8; Ephesians 4:11; I Corinthians 13:1-3. And he spent a great deal of time working through Psalm 109 from which he drew the following guidelines verse by verse:

1. Public discourse should  begin with prayer. "Oh, God, whom I praise..."

2. Admit that it hurts.

3. Commit to fight fair: love for my opposition and self-denying prayer must always preceded my engagement with them.

4. A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

He finished the talk with the following prescriptions:

Don't give a rip about cancel culture.

When you'r wrong, admit it.

Don't cancel others.

Expect that whatever you do or say is being recorded.

He says, "There are two churches. One silently prays with love, about love, and for love. The other steps up to the fight and engages in the resistance. Johnny lives in the resistance.

I find his prescription to be good advice. I also think about the warfare adage that the best laid plan doesn't survive the first battle. Twice tonight, Johnny used the words diametrically opposed. My personal hope is to focus less on what we oppose and more on what we agree, less on how we're different and more on how we're alike, less on engagement and more on consideration. I've always been taught that God's mind is infinitely more subtle and omnipotent that my mere humanness. My faith trusts His plan. My humility suggests that my truth may not be another's truth, and further, I'm in no position to judge. I'm allowed to live my faith, and others should be allowed as well. The fact that their truth doesn't align with mine matters not. It doesn't shake my foundation; it doesn't cancel my belief. I do hope in Johnny's battle and those in his army follow the prescriptions he laid out tonight. I think they provide a good approach, but for me it seems a senseless war. 

Three future leaders in search of their dream.

Glenwood lived up to the claim of the sign.

Beer on the pier. This place, located on the west edge of Portage Lake offered a nice afternoon pause.

Thanks to a no show, we were afforded a table on desired "porch".

Like Chloe said, "The view is the best part."

Photo of the day: The adult tradition.

After dinner, I sat on a wooden swing enjoying the waterfront view at camp.

These two birds symbolize the "Perch". Carved by Vermont artist, Norton Latourelle, they represent yet another example of the opportunities afforded in this life. 

Like they say, "Carpe Diem."

Adventure 919: A View from the Perch-Little Eden Camp/32

The week at Little Eden is a series of repeated traditions. Today we kept the visit to Point Betsie Lighthouse alive. We plucked a few lake rocks from the shoreline, tromped around in the sand, and generally enjoyed the warm summer weather. Afterward, we traveled to Beulah to the L'chayim deli for lunch, which was quite fabulous. Judy and I share the "Syria", which is pastrami with vegetable cream cheese and chopped red onion on a onion bagel. We spent the afternoon bending wire, making puzzles, napping, cards, or whatever the spirit led us toward. For dinner, we stood in line with the rest of the campers for burgers and brats, macaroni salad, chips, watermelon, and cookies: always a camp favorite. After dinner, we took a spin around the lake in the boat. The soft evening and warm wind calmed our spirits. I'm now awaiting evening worship service.

Addendum: Johnny's message tonight encouraged the faithful to get involved in the political system because the country needs saving. It needs to be saved from aborted babies (1,000,000/year), human trafficking, males competing in women's sports, drag queens lecturing in schools, Use of correct pronouns (or else), Libraries full of sexually explicit materials, CRT being taught, coaches being fired just for praying with a team after games, affirmative action, and criminals running free, while the good guys suffer. All of this was couched in comparison to Nehemiah, who was just a cup bearer for the King that saw injustice and did something about it, with, of course the blessing and guidance of God's word. Message: Become Nehemiah ( like Johnny).

Johnny threw in a couple canards: he claimed a British man (I missed the name) ended slavery. he also claimed not to understand how fund raising works in politics.

Most of his talk tonight gave the back story of how he left the pulpit and entered politics. He was raised in an Amish/Brethren tradition that forbade pledging allegiance to the flag because that was counter to the first commandment: Thou shall have no other gods before me. Alfter moving to Lilburn, GA and living right downtown, he saw (like Nehemiah) things that needed correcting. He took action. Others supported him. He ran for office, served as city councilman and mayor for three terms. He ran unsuccessfully three times for state legislature. He is currently attempting to regain the mayor position.

It's more clear to me now what issues the evangelical crowd holds dear. Sadly, I think they'd hitch their wagon to any republican candidate (much less a flawed human like Trump) because the liberal agenda is the path to certain ruination. Johnny claimed that this country of ours is not the country of his youth. History tells a different tale, as does my experience. It's much the same as it's been since the tea was thrown overboard. In my view, while the republic created by our forefathers has its flaws, and our forefathers didn't foresee modern problems, there is no better place or system on the planet. I prefer to believe what Ben Franklin said, "It's a good system, if we can keep it."  And for me, a poor pauper birthed to a teenage mother who currently lives like a king, life is pretty good, especially today.

 

Selfie of he day: Yummy to the tummy!

Let the wire creatures emerge.

Miss Kate's self portrait.

Mr. Scott's dog.

Beulah, Michigan's finest deli.

A gaggle of sand babes.

Rock vase.

Point Betsie Lighthouse.

Young Wes getting to throw rocks.

Miss Karen's wire sculptures.

Lake Michigan.

Heart rock sculpture.

The game is called swish. By the looks on their faces, everyone wins!