Going Camping in February
In my daily devotions the hymn assigned in the calendar that I sang to myself aloud this morning: “The Church’s One Foundation (is Jesus Christ).” Pretty familiar to church folk. But how about this, possibly better: The Church’s One Encampment is Jesus Christ.” Christ encircles us, we do not walk on him. We live in Christ. In the Camp. And the Camp is the World, not some enclave set apart from the world. All people live in the Camp, live in Christ, live thereby and therefore in God (according to Christian teaching), and it is the Church’s charter to witness (Acts. 1:8) to this reality. We, all humanity, live in God. Call it Panentheistic thinking if you like, but I still can’t think of a better metaphor. Camp. Encampment, even better, as it is transient, if not temporary, at least the terrestrial dimension. The circle embraces, encompasses all. I know about the Christ being the Foundation, it just occurred to me there might be a better way to picture it. Us. With God.
Encampment. Can one be thrown out of the Camp? Well, of course, we want that option though you might think we would not. One might think being de-facto in the Camp, Embraced, we’d like it there. Appreciate it there.
But we do not. There are a couple of key reasons we instead want the option (a Choice! There it is! The thing that is a mirage but we think not! Free Will!) of living, aka dying, outside of the Camp.
One, we don’t like everybody in the Camp and would rather have many tossed out. Two, it’s not our Camp. We don’t own it. Ownership is better (so they say, equity and all). And we can do what we want in the Camp if/when we own it (including, of course, determining who is in and who is out).
All metaphors fall short. They don’t tell the story completely or something doesn’t quite fit. Camp, though, is better than Foundation. Besides, I like camping. Start the campfire. Sit a spell. And see that the entire globe is one big Campground. Not Kumbaya and “can’t we just all get along?” but rather in all the battles in the Campground we simply can’t deny it’s all the same dirt when we hit the ground exhausted, or dead.
Do you want the choice of living, dying, outside the Camp? Nice try, the choice is not real, but you can go ahead and think that. But you won’t then be enjoying the campfire any longer. You’ll be where and what Jesus called “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Unfortunately, for the rest of us Campers, you’ll take a lot of us out as you go down kicking and screaming (“down,” not out, because there just is no way to choose your way out of the Camp, out of God. Free Will is a lie, a fabrication we invent to protect ourselves from God who owns, well, everything). I wish, of course, that you would not hurt others as you go. And I will do my best to stop you.
