I had several moments this past week of being reminded that I am getting older! Those moments are not always good reminders either. I am younger in my mind than my body truly is. That means that I can't do some of the things that I think I can do. I have to think twice—can I really do what I want to do, or will I attempt an action and then get stranded with not being able to finish? This decision making that I have to make reminds me that I should always think twice before any action I attempt—but for a whole different reason. I should always think ahead before doing anything. As was popular back in the 1990s "What would Jesus do?" I am afraid there are times that I just do it my way without stopping to consider—it is something that I should rethink doing? Thinking about physically being able to do something is not nearly as important as thinking about whether I should do an action! "Should I be doing something" has so much more far-reaching consequences than hurting physically after putting in effort "to do something." And I need to keep in mind that my actions are being recorded! Do I want it on my permanent record?
I got curious and discovered this little nugget of history.
The phrase "What would Jesus do?", often abbreviated to WWJD, became popular in the United States in the early 1900s, following the 1896 novel In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? by Charles Sheldon. The phrase saw a resurgence in the 1990s as a personal motto for Christians, who used it as a reminder of their belief in the moral imperative in a way that demonstrated the love of Jesus through their actions. The resurgence of the motto in the 1990s stemmed from the WWJD abbreviation on wristbands that became popular among Christian youth groups. Charles Spurgeon, a well-known evangelical Baptist preacher in London, used the phrase "what would Jesus do" in quotation marks several times in a sermon he gave on June 28, 1891. In his sermon he cites the source of the phrase as a book written in Latin by Thomas à Kempis between 1418 and 1427, The Imitation of Christ. The Rev. A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, wrote both the lyrics and music of a Gospel Hymn "What Would Jesus Do" with a copyright date of 1891.
One of the permanent things recorded in my mind is being brought back to me front and center! This is the time of year that many conferences are holding their annual event called Camp Meeting. This year we are planning on attending our Iowa-Missouri Camp Meeting. We have missed going for several years as it has been physically impossible... Listening to the meetings shared by live stream certainly is not the same as attending in person. This annual event has important memories for me since the time I was a small, very young girl. Some very early memories are of attending camp meeting with my mother and brother. Back then it was held on the Oak Park Academy grounds. Each year, the pastors were called to duty to set up rows and rows of white canvas tents, each one just like the other. Each tent had a ridge pole with sloping roof sides down to short walls. Each had a front opening and matching back "door" that could be tied shut or left open for ventilation. Each tent row looking like they were part of an army camp. And they were—God’s army camp. Each was erected on a wooden platform, and I think I remember that they also had a couple metal cots provided. Anything else you might want for this camping experience you needed to bring along with you! And back in the days when I was young, there were none of the wonderful modern items you might bring along today—toaster oven, electric crock pots, battery lanterns, hair dryers and curling irons, etc.! Not even small dorm refrigerators. And there were only a few showers to serve the whole camp! Often the campers had to evacuate because of the threat of tornado storms. Some people were able to buy meal tickets to eat one or several meals in the academy cafeteria. We did not get to do that. I often wondered what they had to eat that we didn't!
But the more important memories are my experiences of the religious nature. The programs for the very young children were located in a large tent near the main area that included a tent for the Book and Bible and Food center and the auditorium for the adult meetings. I remember thinking that the decorations for the kindergarten tent were so well done that I was transplanted into a taste of heaven. It was so much better than what I had experienced in my Sabbath School at home where the leader just gave us a lesson paper to color and read the lesson to us. I remember that often the adults came in to visit to learn ideas that inspired them to take back home to their individual churches. The Book and Bible tent was a great place to be in and if you were lucky, there might be food samples. If I wanted to know where my grandpa was, I could almost always find him in his favorite place—the book tent! And still one of my favorite places!
In the evenings came time for the adults to be spiritually lifted. There were always excellent speakers and vocal musicians. To my memory, it was often a then well-known man named H.M.S. Richards. He was so loved—for his knowledge of the Bible, for his being heard as the Voice of Prophecy speaker weekly on many radio stations, for his interesting and down-to-earth messages that always drew recommitment to God. He always had either the King's Heralds quartet or soloist Del Delker with him. I learned then that my favorite kind of singing was a men's quartet. His altar calls brought many many people to the front of the auditorium as they gave witness to their love for a life with Jesus. As a very young girl, my brother and I often were allowed to play quietly outside where it was cooler than the hot auditorium—no air conditioning! Playing there still allowed us to be near our parents, and we could hear what was happening inside. I remember hearing the altar call songs—Just as I Am was used so often and I always knew what it meant. Another that was sung with such emotion was Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. Another was I have Decided to Follow Jesus, No turning back, no turning back. Also, Softly and Tenderly, Jesus Is Calling You—come home, come home! Those songs always make me respond when I hear them—respond in a good way to my own recommitment! I challenge you to read the words of each song and commit your own life to living each day for Jesus. And ask yourself, What Would Jesus do?
As I got older, I was told to go to the junior meeting area. I remember being scared to go by myself and often not having any friend to go with me. If I was lucky, I could find the daughter of our local pastor to sit with—but it wasn't often. The others seemed to know each other but they didn't know me, and I was very much an "unbrave" girl! One of my favorite memories was learning new songs. These songs were never sung in my own church! But I liked them! One of them was the song The Captain Calls for You. l loved this song! Rarely have I heard it sung or used since because I have been told it is a difficult song to play. It was in a new song book back then. That book is still loved today and was a newly published book in January 1953—Singing Youth! When that book came to my own church, we loved singing from it!
As I grew up and became an adult, we often didn't get to attend a camp meeting until my husband became a pastor. Then we had to go! Not exactly as worshipers but as pastor/workers. By then we had a small baby and a young child. Our boys attended many, many meetings that they had to learn to be quiet in. I remember choosing a baby stroller with the idea that I wanted one that would lay flat as in a flat bed sleeping place with a shade cover. Today, such a stroller would not be considered safe and would be extremely old fashioned. But my choice served us well. It was part of taking our kids everywhere. We never used a babysitter. In one auditorium, we often sat on the balcony. I am afraid that there might still be a baby bottle lying on the lower floor partial ceiling where it was dropped—accidentally! And several silly putty eggs ended up rolling down the lower floor aisles to the front of the main area. Ooops! I’m so glad there weren’t any accidental egg-shaped bumps on worshipper’s heads.The upside was they learned to be quiet in a worship service of any kind.
My pastor husband has served camp meetings in a variety of positions. He has been a leader in the junior class, worked in the ABC, worked several years in the Information and Locating department, and worked in Security. For me, one year I was taken aback when I was asked to be the leader (no helpers) for the Cradle Roll department. I was handed a Camp Meeting program outline for CR that I was to use but no budget, no supplies, really nothing at all. I was told I could bring whatever I thought I would need. That was quite a challenge for a young mother with a 2-year-old. We set about to make many of the things I needed for the program. We made angels on a stick, we made sticks to tap together, and many other things—6 of each one. I don't know to this day if I did good or not so good. I was never asked to do it again! But I have been a helper many times since then. I have worked helping prepare box lunch meals for the people attending Camp Meeting on Sabbath. It is quite a project to make salads in a box for 800 people. I was glad that someone else was in charge of the assembly line. And I have helped clean rooms after Camp Meeting was over.
Often the meeting that has the least attendance is the “early bird gets the prize” meeting that is early each morning before many people are out of bed. Coming to worship then is a special experience. God gets up early, too!
So many memories! Most of them very good memories. I am so glad that I have them. They have changed my life for the better. When I see and also hear a Camp Meeting group singing praises to God in worship, it always makes me think of worshiping with the saved, with God, in Heaven and singing with the angels and singing our praises to Jesus for His love for me and you. There is another song that says My home is over Jordan, deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground. Oh, don’t you want to go to that gospel feast, that promised land where all is peace? Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground. Deep river is a place in heaven where there is peace, freedom, salvation, and the promised land. Camp Meeting is where we can have peace and freedom, learn of salvation that can lead to the promised land
I want to go camping in the best campground!
I want to be part of the grand Camp Meeting in heaven!