And, who is in control?
(It was a lesson I learned at Camp Lazarus.)
In 1962, it was the summer camp experience that taught us that
we don’t walk this life experience alone. We learned their is power
in that Scout Oath and Scout Law that goes far beyond our humble efforts.
The Camp Lazarus staff was made up of the best of the Scouts in The Central
Ohio area. We had been called “The Merit Badge Mill” but the fact was
we had the environment and the staff to assist Scouts in achieving their
goals. We had a pool, a lake and woods where a Scout could complete
the requirements of his merit Badge. But the lesson learned during
the summer of 1962 went way beyond “the people” and “the printed word“.
I was Program Director at Camp Lazarus. Bob May, The Camp Director
and a few selected staff, including myself, stayed in the main building.
That building was positioned beside the Upper Lake and across the parking
lot from The Dining Hall. As we slept one evening. I was awakened several
times with a soft rumbling sound. I couldn’t identify its source so
I eventually just rolled over and went back to sleep. By morning, we
realized that roar was the exiting of the upper lake. When we went
to the water’s edge, we saw no water. The canoes and row boats sat
in mud. The draining pipe from the upper lake had “sprung a leak” and
while we slept, the lake left.
For the next couple weeks, Scouts looked with astonishing shock to see their
source of their several Merit Badges drained away. Oh yes, we heard
lots of complaints and lots of hardship stories. But, most of all, we were
left with the realization that we really aren’t the total “boss of our environment”
and we are always subject to “God’s final word”. We were a little “Prideful”
in those days but for a few weeks we were humbled as we saw His ausum power
demonstrated and were reminded that “In God We Trust“ was more than just
a phrase.
