“Embracing the Truth as it Comes to be Known”
As we stand in the face of all of the monstrous problems that face our country, from failing educational systems to foreign wars, a floundering economy to political cronyism, many people are calling for change. Change becomes very difficult, however, when people, governments, and companies have to look inwardly at their predispositions and past actions and critically reassess whether what they have doing has been right or wrong.
Encountering new and fundamentally different ideas can be a terribly difficult and life-changing experience. I should know, since this happened to me when I first moved out near Syracuse, NY, and found out how Vanderkamp had been running its summer camp program. I had a wonderful summer camp experience as a child at a place that emphasized the importance of staying in the same small group of people for the entire week. My first reaction to hearing about Vanderkamp’s choice-based model was to bristle and feel defensive. “Small group camping is better than this,” I thought. “I wonder how I can change this to be more like that small-group camping experience.” As uncomfortable as I was, I knew I couldn’t change everything all at once. In light of doing something I didn’t want to do, I attempted to find the positive in it.
Working at a summer camp and retreat center hadn’t been my full time profession in almost 5 years, and a lot had changed in my life since then. I had gotten married, and had a child. I had read countless texts on child-development, theology, non-violent communication, individualism, and freedom. I realized, though, that in all of my inquiry I had never looked at the way I interact with children in a summer camp setting intentionally. Well, not never. I certainly looked at it very closely when I went through the Leadership Training Program as a teenager and I learned the philosophy of my old camp. Once I had that philosophy in place, though, I built up a shell to any other possibilities. I was learning all of these things about education, and parenting, and living life, but ignoring how that new information should impact my summer camp program.
I had a lot at stake in that previous method of doing things. I’ve counseled hundreds of kids, and been a director at a camp for thousands. I really didn’t want to believe that I had been doing things “just because that’s the way they had always been done,” but when faced with this huge change at Vanderkamp, I realized that I had been doing precisely that. It was truly a crossroads for me, but it was a life-changing and positive one. I realized that I loved the choice-based model at Vanderkamp – that in fact I wouldn’t feel right running a camp without it! My mind was blown, and I scrapped everything that I thought I knew about camping and started over.
I called someone who I consider a spiritual mentor and dear friend – a woman named Lorelei, who has worked at my previous camp for nearly 40 years. In discussing the implications of such a radically different thought process she put it wonderfully, saying, “That all sounds wonderful, James. All we can do is embrace truth as it comes to be known.” At that moment, I became determined to never beat myself up about anything I used to do or think. Instead, I dedicated my time to thinking about each interaction that takes place at summer camp with a renewed focus on making sure those interactions were intentional.
I realized that in my career working with kids I’ve rushed, scolded, dismissed, raised my voice with, and been dishonest with children for my own convenience. As sad as that makes me, there is nothing I can do about it now except use the lessons from the past to prepare for the future. The worst thing I could do is try to justify those things, and I believe the only appropriate measure for me to take now is to resolve to never do them again and demand that my counselors do the same.
When we talk about changing the rules, we’re certainly not “deregulating” camp. We’re just looking at typical regulations and figuring out which of them are benefiting the community as a whole, and throwing out the ones that benefit just the adults (or no one at all!). The point of these articles is not to tell anyone what they should do or make anyone feel guilty about what they have done – it’s simply to provide insight into what we do, and hopefully get feedback that might help us find more truth to embrace.
Our children need more from us. There was a time when slavery was legal and questioned very little. There was a time when women in America could not vote. There was a time when schools were legally segregated. It took courageous people to give up their own positions of privilege to advocate for those in need, and to put aside their own guilt in previously profiting from those positions of privilege. We seek to do that for children, and hope you will continue to partner with us in raising the bar for how children are treated on the whole.
We don’t have it all figured out, but we hope to “show our work” in our pursuit of finding exactly what it means to create a loving, peaceful, and Christian community. Have any questions, concerns, or critical remarks? Wonderful! Learning starts with questions, not answers. We’re so thrilled that you’ve chosen to partner with us in this pursuit by reading our essays, and promise to embrace any truths that are revealed to us as we continue to search. There’s no sense in changing for the sake of change – but intentional, well thought out, and loving change? Nothing feels better.
