Friday, July 31, 2009

A Taste of Innocence

I'm up at Lake Junaluska for the day. Memories pour in when I'm at this place. This is where I went to church camp as a youth. They put me in the girl's dorm two years in a row. "Jody" seemed like a good name for a girl. They never let me stay though.

I remember that second year when I came alone. My buddy backed out at the last minute so I found myself that first night of the assembly sitting in a crowd with an empty chair next to me. Some minister was giving an impassioned plea about something and while I listened I placed my hand on the seat of the empty chair. A few moments later I felt a hand touch mine.

I looked over and there she was looking into my eyes. I later discovered that she was a senior and of course I was going to just be a freshmen in High School. It was church camp. We only had a week so she figured why bother with introductions and those incidentals about getting to know each other...let's get with the program. She after all was "an older woman."

O calm down this is still a PG 13 Blog. I did not completely loose my innocence but it was a week filled with...uh...passion. Years later I remember hearing a lecture by Dr. Scott Peck about the relationship between spirituality and sensuality. He spoke of the intimate language used in some of the hymns and how the source of our spirituality is very close to the source of our sensuality. In other words it is true that those small group Bible studies when the interior life is examined can get us close to some "other feelings."

So that week at church camp we heard a lot about Jesus and his love for us. It was an intense week in many ways. No lines were crossed but I understand what Scott Peck meant.

It is still an innocent memory. I waved goodbye as she stepped onto her bus...well...I did more than wave. She went on to some college. I never saw her again. She definitely "knew" more than I did but we managed.

Ah, those days of innocence. I'll walk around the lake at Lake Junaluska today with my dear Betsy. We'll pass the large cross that stands over the lake...and I'll remember and smile.
jody jseymour@davidsonumc.org

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