Thought for the Week
In my mind, the words summer and camp are forever linked. Our local YMCA had an extensive program for teenies through teenagers, and I was hooked!
Little Kids Camp was held in a pine-filled grove right there in suburban SoCal (we went home each night). It was “pretend-you’re-in-the-mountains” camp. We hiked and sang silly songs like “John Jingleheimer Schmidt” and “Do Your Ears Hang Low?”
There were skits too. In one, a boy was dunked in the water over and over again. Each time he was asked, “Do you believe?” “Yes,” he’d reply. But the last time he was asked, “What do you believe?” And he replied, “I believe you’re trying to drown me!” I’d never heard of baptism, so I didn’t get it. Looking back, I get not just the joke but the underlying message: “Don’t just go through the motions. Know what you believe.”
Big Kids Camp, Camp Osceola, was in the actual mountains! We slept in rustic cabins, swam, rode horses, ate in a big knotty-pine mess hall — and absorbed truths from everything we did.
I went on an unforgettable hike to the top of “Old Greyback” (Mt. San Gorgonio), Southern California’s highest peak. Rule #1 was: “We hike as a group and reach the top together.” Sometimes that meant doubling back to help a straggler. I grumbled at first, but learned to squelch my impatience. Yes, it took longer to get there, but somehow that made the celebration sweeter. (Not a bad lesson for 2025.)
More truths were snuck in during campfires. After the songs and skits, a leader would tell a parable. To me they were just stories. And yet they rumbled around in my head as I lay in my sleeping bag later. I still vividly recall this one:
An ambitious young architect is hired by a prosperous man to build a beautiful house, no expenses spared. Jealous of the man’s success, he uses the flimsiest of materials and cuts every possible corner, basically constructing a pretty pile of junk. When he’s finished, the successful man praises his work and pays him. And then he says, “I appreciate your integrity so much, my friend, that I’m giving you this house!”
I’d never heard of the Golden Rule (“Do unto others…”). Nevertheless, I learned it that night. But the biggest summer camp lesson of all, the one I heard over and over again, was this: Be honest with yourself, be real, know what you believe, and why…
Then go and live it.
Love it!!
Camp was such an important part of my life, both Boy Scout Camp and Church Camp. My daughter and son-in-law were also Camp kids and now their boys, my grandsons, go to camp in the summer, too. God speaks through creation and creation speaks to the soul.
He does indeed, Steve.
Amen! God bless that camp! In fact, I have been praying for Christian camps frequently this summer. 🙏😉👍
I now have an earworm of JJ Jingleheimer Schmidt, TYVM 😳
YVW. ;>)
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mention of “Do Your Ears Hang Low” on the internet!
I actually found several links to it, Liz. Some early (pre-camp) versions were pretty rude!
I was in Australian holiday camps in the late 70s and early 80s singing the “cute” version of long (rabbit) ear songs… and will now be humming it for the rest of the day!! (Great post Mitch) Linda 🙂
Thanks, Linda!
Yes, I remember the rude versions.
Last summer I went swimming, last summer I might have drowned, but I held my breath and I kicked my feet and I moved my arms around, I moved my arms around.
Fraser and Debolt
Loudon Wainwright III. Such a quirky songwriter.
I wonder how Osceola Camp in California got its name. Osceola was a Seminole tribal leader during in the Second Seminole War during the 1830s–in Florida. I wonder if the camp founder was from Florida.
I don’t know, Nancy. Could be.
Camps were the thing
I loved the Jacob Jingleheimer one
It sounds like you really benefitted from YMCA summer camp in so many ways, Mitch. Connecting with God and His gift of nature is a big one. The screen-free memories (no TV!) you made remained in your heart. Children today desperately need summer camp. 🙂
That is a great parable!
What a story!
Your faith and belief is worth the fire it’s tested with. When you come through, it’s fine than gold.
🤣 I know him from my childhood.
;>)
I’m still feeling all hot and sweaty! 😓 It’s like my workout doesn’t want to let go! Understand
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