The trip to Echo Lake, our next destination, would – we assumed – take about three hours. Oddly some bureaucrat, in a moment of complete delusion, concluded that a Friday night – a Weekend night when thousands of Summer cottage dwellers migrate from the city to their lakeside hideaways – would be a great time to shut down three lanes of the 401 (Ontario’s version of a major US Interstate) for paving. Our three hour trip turned into a five hour battle with sleep. We finally fell into bed around 2:00 AM.
Early the next morning I began my next week’s assignment with a keynote address to Echo Lake’s 50th Anniversary crowd. 300 or more Former Campers; former Staff; present Staff and Counselors; Founders; Pastors; and Friends of Echo filled the Big Top – a 3 parapet tent – erected for the occasion. That entire day was a seamless celebration of 50 illustrious years of camps for Kids in the High School and College years. The Organizers – kudos to all of you! – created a day that allowed people every option from sitting and reflecting to reliving the fun things they used to do as Kids though now in somewhat less resilient bodies. It was fun. It was, sometimes, funny. The food was exquisite and plentiful. Above all it was a thrill to reflect on the sacrifices and accomplishments of people whose efforts have made Echo Lake what it is today! These are people who, year-after-year voluntarily – volunteers are the backbone of this Camp and have been since its founding – offered themselves, their Families, and their resources including recreational equipment; boats; water skis and what have you for the Young People of Southeastern Ontario. They made these sacrifices so kids could have fun and find faith in an environment that would always be, for them, a hallowed place among Christian Families; forever Friends and role models of Christians living ordinary everyday lives Jesus way.
Is there any wonder that this Camp – Echo Lake Camp – is one of my all time favorite places and its people among my dearest Friends?!
By Sunday evening over 120 Kids had arrived and a non-stop Week of fun and faith-building was in high gear.
In many ways Echo 2006 was like all the others. Jon McConnell, one of my best Friends, and I ran in the morning. Campers, Team Leaders, and I met in the mornings and again at night to learn and grow in our understanding of Jesus and His ways. The Staff members joined us for the night Meetings. These sessions are, as far as I can understand myself and my mission in life, what I have been made for. When I’m talking with people, young or old, about Jesus I “feel His pleasure.” And I enjoy every moment. I also really enjoy the outdoor, recreational things that happen at Echo. Team building and Team spirit are a big thing at Echo. Every Camper is assigned a Team. College and career age Echo Alumni serve as Team Leaders. The competition is intense. I always pitch for 3-pitch softball. It gives me a chance to meet the Kids face-to-face; get to know their names and a bit about their personalities. I like to hang around the waterfront visiting with everyone. I’ll spot for Jon on the ski boat sharing the thrills of Young People learning new skills. I laugh a lot. You can’t help it. There are few things funnier than watching two guys make a limbo contest into THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY! or High School girls doing tug-of-war while trying desperately not to mess up their nails. The ANNUAL TALENT SHOW is always a kick. This year was no exception. Echo’s version of “American Idol,” was a hit. We laughed ‘til our sides ached at the panel of judges – Meathead or Meatball or whatever his name was, the Coach with a strut reminiscent of all the tough guy coaches we’ve ever had, and the Queen. We laughed some more as Matt – a budding comic for sure – casually, tongue-in-cheek, schooled us in the finer features of flatulence. There were acts that should have been booed out of the building but we were laughing too hard to boo.
Yet, somehow this year was different. On the face of it things were as they should be at Echo. But under the surface in my own spirit something was very different and uncomfortable. It all began with a brief conversation. On the Day of the Anniversary Celebration one of the Staff said to me, almost in passing, “I hear this is your last Echo.” I was stunned! I’d not heard that. And I’d certainly not thought about it. So I dismissed it with a wave of my hand. “This is the first time I’ve heard that,” I said. I assured him that, as long as I was able to communicate effectively with the Kids and have a strategic influence in their lives I wanted to continue my work at the Camp.
Are you like me? Do things like that get into your head and heart and become a mischievous presence that repeatedly nags you and makes a big deal out of otherwise insignificant stuff? This Staffer’s words became one of those things. Out of that momentary conversation a second, ephemeral, personal Echo experience began, for me, and became every bit as real; sometimes more real than what was going on visibly. It turned my Week into a profound consideration of what might be imminent aspects of my personal destiny. Some of my assumptions about what life would look like in the next few years were challenged. And my sense of purpose was shaken.
Among my stronger convictions about life, and our purpose in it, is the belief that the call of God is a forever matter. Given the eternal nature of a person’s mission in the Kingdom of God things like age and retirement are debilitating only if you allow them to be. I have repeatedly, over the years, insisted that I would not let my age deter me from the mission I’ve been called to. If the “sands of time” get in my gears I’ll find a lubricant that has detergent added. If this or that gets stiff or sore I’ll find a new stretch or another technique to loosen things up. I’ll keep my mind active. I’ll never stop working longer and harder than the young guys, reminding them that “old guys rule.” And if I’m relegated to a state of virtual immobility, for whatever reason, I’ll find someone or some gadget that can interpret my mutant attempts at communication so that I can continue to tell all who will listen what Jesus meant when he said, “I’ve come to give my people life; more and better life than they’ve ever dreamed of.
Despite such resolve, this Week at Echo brought me face-to-face with the grim fact that we, ourselves, are the first and most formidable opponent we have to contend with when we determine to achieve out-of-the-ordinary things. I allowed the notion that I might be getting too old to effectively communicate with the kids at Echo to get me out of focus. It took some great Young People – Team Leaders – to get me back on track. They called me aside after an evening session which I thought had gone quite well. A number of people had stepped out and come to the front to “do some important personal business with God.” These Team Leaders told me that they were sensing some sort of spiritual blockage in the Camp. They felt that I had “lost the campers” that night. They wondered if I was OK. They thought perhaps we were “under attack.” They asked if they could pray for me. I readily, heartily agreed. You know by now, I’m sure, what was going on inside of me. “This is your swan song JimmyDee! It’s over!” But, more than anything else, I want my Lord to be pleased with me. So I agreed to pray with these concerned young colleagues. After we’d prayed I shared with them my concern that, perhaps, we should meet each morning for the rest of the Week to pray. I told them I’d observed, in the year I’d worked with them previously, that they had been meeting to pray early in the morning. I told them I had seen a strong, focused spirit in them that year and that significant things happened, then, which could only be explained as God’s response to their prayers. So, we agreed to meet early each remaining morning to pray. This meant I’d not be able to run with Jon and I was bummed about that. But I knew this was the right thing to do. And it definitely was. The rest of our sessions together were rich. The Kids were truly passionate about their spiritual condition and made some radical commitments to the Lord. I left the Camp with a renewed sense that there are some great Young People out there; people our Lord will use to carry on the world changing work of establishing His Kingdom among us.
Echo Lake, 2006, ended on a high note, in my opinion, and our Lord used every member of the Team to bring the Campers face-to-face with Himself and they – virtually all of them – responded by making decisions to trust Him with their lives! I too made the same decision. It will be His call where and when I serve Him. It continues to be scary. I am in uncharted waters; traveling without a map. But I do have a compass. It is the Spirit of the Real Unseen Lord of the Universe. “The cosmos environing us,” as Dallas Willard insists, “is, in reality, a self-sufficing Community of unspeakably magnificent personal beings of boundless love, knowledge, and power.” With that compass I will never get lost. I am His Servant. I can never lose significance!
Over the next few days we spent some time with Echo Friends who invited us to visit them in their Homes. We visited Ottawa, the capital of my Homeland, for the very first time. Grant and Leigh Anne Bifolchi were the consummate hosts. Their Home is magnificent! We enjoyed watching their Son play Hockey. We were given a guided tour of the Capital. Leigh Anne you and Matthew are super guides! And we thoroughly enjoyed looking out over the golf course in their backyard to the forest where leaves were already beginning to change color. We then went to hang out with Jon McConnell and his Wife Bev. I played hockey with him, his Son James, his nephew Jon, and some other guys from Echo. When I stepped on the ice for the first time in 12 years I wondered how it would be. It was pretty shaky for a while and I’m sure it was laughable to observers – if there were any. But I “went for it,” and had a great time. The next day Bev, a skilled pilot, took me flying. We took pictures of Echo Lake from the air. The flight had an amusing twist. After all the checks were completed Bev taxied the plane to the fuel pumps and filled it up. When she attempted to start it again the batteries were dead. We ended up having to push that plane back to its docking site. She insisted we continue with our plans and rented a plane.
Such generosity is just the McConnell way! In their determined loyalty and kindness, despite the fact that they were helping their Son and his new Bride move to Toronto the next day, Jon and Bev drove separate vehicles so she could take Shirley and me to the airport for our trip Home.
Reflecting on these days at Echo and with Friends made through our Echo connection I realized that I had entered a new phase of my life. I’d turned 60 just days before the Camp began. Immediately, on the very first day, I was confronted and challenged with the question, “Will your life be different now?” I had to renew my life commitment to allow God to be the one who would call the shots in my life. Would I serve Him no matter what? Would I give whatever I was asked to give with rock solid determination to give it all, with excellence, ‘til there was “nothing in me except the will within that says ‘hold on”? I reviewed my life. And I determined I would live this new phase – this next life if you like – for Him; in His strength; for His purposes; “with all there is of me,” recognizing that it really is “the Lord Christ whom I serve.”
Little did I, or Shirley, know what lie ahead!
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