Greetings from Pilgrim Lodge where summer is in full swing!
We are in the thick of our camp season here at Pilgrim Lodge and, as happens when human beings show up to spend time together, it is full and rich and deep and challenging and imbued with joy.
This season, a word that keeps popping up unexpectedly is the word “kin.”
Kin: one’s family and relations.
During some early season reflection time, we were reading a passage from the Bible and considered, “what happens if we substitute the word ‘Kingdom’ with ‘Kindom?’” For those of us sitting in a circle, we found that, while “Kingdom” evoked a sense of hierarchy and power, “Kindom” gave us a sense of relationship and mutuality. The “Kindom” of God felt more accessible.
During staff training, we talked about one of our camp values: “Love of Creation” and the opportunity we have to demonstrate a commitment to environmental stewardship. We considered that stewardship, while often evokes a sense of “taking care of,” can also mean that we know best. As we face the realities of climate change, we were taking a hard look at whether or not we have done the work of stewardship. We were curious about how we, as humans, might consider the relationship we would have to the natural world if we relate to creation as our kin…our family and relations.
This week, Climate Justice Camp is underway and the leaders of our session have invited us to consider that our camp community includes not just the people who are here, but the more than human world in the space we call camp as part of our community. In place of our traditional Family Groups when we blend campers together for opportunities to explore the curriculum and themes of the week, Climate Justice Camp is coming together in “Kinship Groups” to raise up the relationships they hope to build as they explore their relationships to climate change and issues of justice.
In our faith-based curriculum this summer is called “Linked by Love,” the opening passage is Colossians 3:12-14: 12 Therefore… holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive… 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
We are doing the work of kinship as we seek to ground ourselves in love. Love is not always easy, but it creates relationships that are powerful. Love challenges us to work through hard moments to move toward deep connection. Love links us together as family in relationships that travel with us after camp into the world beyond.