Delight

People are what make camp great. It is a fact that derives from our status as image bearers of the Most High. Each and every person is a wonder and delight… therefore camp should be a place of wonder and delight… and it is! We consider this to be a foundational philosophy of Greystone and we encourage the girls to live accordingly.

C.S. Lewis has many worthy insights. One of my favorites is found in his essay “The Weight of Glory”:

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship… There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.

We all know that people are a big deal but at camp that reality seems to be more clear. Each and every person in camp (from youngest to oldest) contributes to this community in a meaningful way. This includes people that we love yet they don’t spend weeks living with us… people like Drew and Ellie Holcomb, who gave us a wonderful concert last night.

They have been coming to camp for many years now and with each visit we are reminded of what an impact two people can have. The girls love them (the screams of delight when we announced the concert were heard all through Tuxedo) and the they love the campers (Ellie was moved to tears at one point). It is a sweet occasion when they visit and we are loving every minute!

We served Corned Beef Hash for breakfast today… not exactly a well loved treat by most girls! Caroline Giraud, a Group Leader, took it on herself to make it an occasion of delight by changing the words in every breakfast song to include the words “Corned Beef Hash”. It was amazing! Everyone really got into the moment and spirits were very high as we anticipated each adapted song. A new tradition is born! We also changed tables at breakfast (getting a whole new group of friends to meet) and will do so again next Monday.

Lunch is Chicken Salad and Pimento Cheese sandwiches, dinner is Mongolian Beef.

Today is overcast with occasional sprinkles. The light scattered rain in the daytime has been joined by big thunder showers in the evening. This weather pattern has kept our temperatues very comfortable (low 80’s) and the lawn very spongy. Last night we were rained out of our concert by the lake and moved into the Pavilion (which worked out great). Tonight’s team meetings will hopefully end with a late night movie, everyone is praying that the weather will cooperate!

Thanks again for reading the news and providing your girls this opportunity. Camp is a delightful gift!