Lazy Days
What are your favorite memories of summer? I bet that those “golden” memories of childhood prominenantly feature time spent with friends just hanging out. This certainly is true of me (I went to camp for 10 summers, but spent a disproportionate amount of my camp years building dams in the creek). There is something appropriate about embracing a slow pace during the summer.
This slow pace has been deliberately built into the camp calendar, it is appropriate to these middle weeks and it is celebrated by camper and counselor alike. Yesterday’s “Do Nothing” day was glorious. Today we had a long Breakfast Club on the subject of Beauty and our obsession with it (more on that later), then a Morning Assembly concert by Wes King. We skipped first period and just enjoyed the moment. Now we are once again on the regular camp schedule, glad to be back with our friends in class.
The humidity is high, the temperatures will top off at 85 degrees… the very definition of a sultry Saturday. This combination leads to afternoon showers and might well move tonight’s Council Fire into the Pavilion… and we don’t care! Inside or outside; life is good.
About Beauty
Your girls are stunningly beautiful.
I am struck by that fact every day. They are drop dead beautiful, and not because of the way they look… they are just beautiful girls. No makeup, hair a mess, wearing mismatched outfits: their beauty arises from their demeanor: bright smiles reflecting beautiful hearts. By simply being themselves they are majestic and beautiful… Fearfully and wonderfully made indeed!
But I also know that this cofidence is easily shattered outside the bubble. Worries about clothes, hair, skin tone, weight, body, and all the other TINY fads once again take control. Some are struggling with big issues like anorexia and anxiety, some are just emotionally bruised and hurting by how they “fall short” of a goal that is beyond their control.
Margaret and I have firsthand experience with the subject for we have raised three beautiful daughters… we see how powerful these forces are first hand and know how devestating they can be. We feel powerless to counteract these feelings. “You don’t understand” is the quick response to our considered advice.
We all know that our culture has an obsession with beauty. Perhaps it has always been that way but it seems to be getting worse. Physical beauty quickly becomes an “idol” that consumes our lives. This is a temptation for women of all ages and the power of this message is very hard to ignore. Instagram, Snapchat, facebook, and the other social media options share a common thread: an encouragement on self obsession that tends to narcissism. We want to be liked and it appears that to be liked is mostly a result of the way we look. Our daughters are taught that the more provocative the outfit, the more cool (do they even use that word anymore?).
At camp we step away from these cultural pressures. We don’t put on makeup, don’t waste time choosing outfits, don’t have access to social media, and don’t worry about boys. Here we simply are ourselves and after so many weeks with such good influences we are beginning to “get it”. Being ourselves is OK… in fact, it is AWESOME!!!
Here we love each other, warts and all. We find ourselves becoming friends with the most unlikely of people… discovering that there is magnificence in every person once we get to know them.
Jesus (God Himself) did not choose a handsome body when he took on flesh. “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him,and no beauty that we should desire him.” (Is 53:2) Physical beauty simply doesn’t matter to God. Beauty, furthermore, can be an idol and as such can be dangerous to our relationship to God. He does not want us to worship beauty (our natural inclination). Thus, we should accept our bodies and our looks with great joy for these details were given to us for a reason. God does not make mistakes… we should trust Him.
Thanks for taking the time to read the blog (even on a Saturday)! Most appreciated!!!
Have A Great Day
