By: Corey Sielaff
Think back, if you will, to the date September 27th, 2010. This was the day this blog was supposed to be posted. My sincere apologies for this late reflection, however it is simply a reflection of the crazy busy schedule we have been keeping around these parts. Our year-round retreat program is now in full swing. We have welcomed in several ESP retreat groups, a handful of team building and leadership groups and a pair of confirmation classes. All around camp you can hear discussion of environmental stewardship, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, teamwork and of course "Something Beautiful" by NeedtoBreathe blaring in the background. As we work through the heart of our busy fall season we are preparing for a retreat of our own. The Salt Team and many of the full-time staff are rolling out for a weekend of backpacking and fellowship in the beautiful fall colors of the Porcupine Mountains. It will be some welcome rest and relaxation in preparation for a few more months of high-energy retreats.
Besides hiking, playing music, and being all together goofy, many of this years Camp Gray staff share a similar hobby; photography. It is a rare occasion when someone is not snapping a shot of the beautiful landscape of Camp's 225 acres, taking a photo of kids completing a low ropes element or attempting to catch someone off guard for a funny picture. So you may be asking yourself, "self, why is Corey telling us this. We don't get to see any of these pictures." Well, it is our goal at Camp Gray to change that. First off, our fearless Assistant Director and head photographer extraordinaire Chris "Topher" Aderhold often posts his most recent pictures on the CG facebook page. This is our invitation to you to become a friend with Camp Gray Catholic Camp on Facebook (www.facebook.com/campgray) and view the pictures. But, if Facebook is not your cup of tea, we have another option for our avid Camp Gray blogspot fans. We at Camp Gray will be hosting a picture contest here on the blog. Every few weeks we will post some new pictures taken around camp by one of our many volunteers. You will be able to vote for your favorite picture, and at the end of each month we will tally the votes and post the winner on the blog! It seems so simple, because it really is.
Well folks, thanks for reading along. We hope to see you all around camp sometime soon, but if not, we hope that you are keeping the camp spirit alive in your homes, places of business and other random public places! And to send with a favorite movie quote which fits perfectly with our theme for the year, remember that you are "B-E-A-utiful".
Friday, October 8, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Musings by Mo-T
It is just about one year since I was hired on as a regular poster here on Misplaced and Found. (Poster, as in one who posts, specifically in this case every other week which some might call bi-weekly, bi-monthly, semi-weekly, etc...) If you don't know what I'm talking about, you better read this for some background information: Click Here.
For all you loyal readers, it probably seems to you as if I did not make good on my promise to post something new and exciting every other week. If you think that, you are wrong. I never promised that what I write is new or exciting. Admittedly, though, I did not continue to post twice a month for the entire year. I believe that I slowed down considerably in the winter/spring time, and never attempted a post in the summer. For this I apologize. I have learned from my mistake, though. I will never again promise to post on here with any sort of regularity.
The good news, though, is that things are going swell around here. You can read all about it on our last few posts...or I can give you the short version:
The SLT (Servant Leadership Team) is already hard at work on their fifth week of retreats.
We have done two Confirmation retreats so far. (Yay for the gifts of the Holy Spirit!!!)
Our free time has included a lot of hanging out and cooking/eating together. We have also enjoyed playing football, and our own version of arena football in the Camp Gray "Elk Antlers" Memorial Gymnasium.
But...our favorite group hobby is having a "jam session". This includes (but is most definitely not limited to) 1-4 guitar players, 1 drummer (playing congas or a drum box), 1-5 singers, much talk of banjos and other such instruments, and 1 almost 2 year old Andrew Hoeben peeking over the pews at us and "dropping" guitar picks inside our guitars. At our best we sound (and look) something kind of like this: Click Here.
That is all for now folks, keep your eyes peeled for some more Musings by Mo-T some indefinite amount of time in the future!
For all you loyal readers, it probably seems to you as if I did not make good on my promise to post something new and exciting every other week. If you think that, you are wrong. I never promised that what I write is new or exciting. Admittedly, though, I did not continue to post twice a month for the entire year. I believe that I slowed down considerably in the winter/spring time, and never attempted a post in the summer. For this I apologize. I have learned from my mistake, though. I will never again promise to post on here with any sort of regularity.
The good news, though, is that things are going swell around here. You can read all about it on our last few posts...or I can give you the short version:
The SLT (Servant Leadership Team) is already hard at work on their fifth week of retreats.
We have done two Confirmation retreats so far. (Yay for the gifts of the Holy Spirit!!!)
Our free time has included a lot of hanging out and cooking/eating together. We have also enjoyed playing football, and our own version of arena football in the Camp Gray "Elk Antlers" Memorial Gymnasium.
But...our favorite group hobby is having a "jam session". This includes (but is most definitely not limited to) 1-4 guitar players, 1 drummer (playing congas or a drum box), 1-5 singers, much talk of banjos and other such instruments, and 1 almost 2 year old Andrew Hoeben peeking over the pews at us and "dropping" guitar picks inside our guitars. At our best we sound (and look) something kind of like this: Click Here.
That is all for now folks, keep your eyes peeled for some more Musings by Mo-T some indefinite amount of time in the future!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Weekly Gospel Devotion
Editor's Note: Would you like to receive weekly email devotions about the upcoming Sunday Gospel written by our fine volunteers and staff? Shoot an email to paul@campgray.com with, "ADD ME TO THE DEVO LIST (please)!" in the subject line, and we'll add you to the list so that you'll start receiving excellent, thought-provoking devotions like the one below, written by Kathleen!
Gospel for Sunday, October 3:
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied,
"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to the mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"
__________
It is no secret that we, as a society, have come to like big things. We gawk at large wrapped packages addressed to us as if it is infinitely better than a smaller package, though we have no idea what's inside. We like Venti coffees, extra large pizzas, walk-in closets, big screen TV's, and buying in bulk. We have adapted the mentality that bigger IS better though we may not finish our Venti coffee, the pizza will probably be packed up as leftovers, we may not have enough clothes to fill the walk-in closet, and the game we watch on the 73" TV is goin gto have the same plays and calls on the 20" TV. So what does it matter?!
The apostles fell into a very similar trap in this week's Gospel. They said it to Jesus, "Increase our faith," as if He would just snap his fingers to give them greater faith. One wonders why they desired MORE faith when they already had faith to begin with. Jesus responds to them by saying, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." In other words, "The size of your faith doesn't matter! Even with the smallest amount of faith you can do great things!" Faith is faith-you either have it or you don't.
In the second part of the Gospel, Jesus compares the apostles to servants, saying "When a servant comes in from tending the fields, you would say to him 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished.' Then you would thank him." In my reflecting on this Gospel, it seems that Jesus has two messages to share. The first is that things are not just granted to us, but rather worked for. We must be diligent in our duties if we want to obtain something as a result. However, (and this leads me to his second message) we should not do things out of pride or extreme self-indulgence, but rather for the glory of God.
In our Christian life, we are called to be servants of the Lord; not slaves to ourselves. It is so easy to get caught up in the quantity of everything. We feel we need to be more holy, more faithful, or just better because there are other people who are just so much holier, more faithful, or better than us—and we want others to notice we can be bigger and better. We often become more concerned with what others see us as than what God sees us as. It is at this point that we stop serving God and begin to serve ourselves. While it is important to realize where we fall short spiritually, it is just as important to remember that with faithfulness and holiness, you either have it or you don’t; quantity is irrelevant. God doesn’t call us to be the MOST faithful; He just calls us to be faithful. So let us always keep God the focus of our lives so that we can be the simply faithful servants He calls us to be. And let us never become proud or seek glory for ourselves when we follow God’s commands, but rather look at our obedience to His will as our obligation to the God who loves us unconditionally.
Gospel for Sunday, October 3:
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied,
"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to the mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"
__________
It is no secret that we, as a society, have come to like big things. We gawk at large wrapped packages addressed to us as if it is infinitely better than a smaller package, though we have no idea what's inside. We like Venti coffees, extra large pizzas, walk-in closets, big screen TV's, and buying in bulk. We have adapted the mentality that bigger IS better though we may not finish our Venti coffee, the pizza will probably be packed up as leftovers, we may not have enough clothes to fill the walk-in closet, and the game we watch on the 73" TV is goin gto have the same plays and calls on the 20" TV. So what does it matter?!
The apostles fell into a very similar trap in this week's Gospel. They said it to Jesus, "Increase our faith," as if He would just snap his fingers to give them greater faith. One wonders why they desired MORE faith when they already had faith to begin with. Jesus responds to them by saying, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." In other words, "The size of your faith doesn't matter! Even with the smallest amount of faith you can do great things!" Faith is faith-you either have it or you don't.
In the second part of the Gospel, Jesus compares the apostles to servants, saying "When a servant comes in from tending the fields, you would say to him 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished.' Then you would thank him." In my reflecting on this Gospel, it seems that Jesus has two messages to share. The first is that things are not just granted to us, but rather worked for. We must be diligent in our duties if we want to obtain something as a result. However, (and this leads me to his second message) we should not do things out of pride or extreme self-indulgence, but rather for the glory of God.
In our Christian life, we are called to be servants of the Lord; not slaves to ourselves. It is so easy to get caught up in the quantity of everything. We feel we need to be more holy, more faithful, or just better because there are other people who are just so much holier, more faithful, or better than us—and we want others to notice we can be bigger and better. We often become more concerned with what others see us as than what God sees us as. It is at this point that we stop serving God and begin to serve ourselves. While it is important to realize where we fall short spiritually, it is just as important to remember that with faithfulness and holiness, you either have it or you don’t; quantity is irrelevant. God doesn’t call us to be the MOST faithful; He just calls us to be faithful. So let us always keep God the focus of our lives so that we can be the simply faithful servants He calls us to be. And let us never become proud or seek glory for ourselves when we follow God’s commands, but rather look at our obedience to His will as our obligation to the God who loves us unconditionally.
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