God is Everywhere:
A Lazy F Day of Prayer
By Cathy Raymond
Walk with me! When I reach the pond, I notice a box on the bench. Inside the box are instructions. First, I breathe in the presence of God into every part of me. Then I look around and feast on the sights and sounds and smells of this place.
Life is everywhere – fish in the pond, birds in the air, trees swaying in the wind, a blade of grass, a tiny insect, the still water of the pond, the rushing water of the creek, the cross of the ridge. I pay particular attention to the rushing spring water of Manastash Creek. I pick up the journal that is in the box and I write about this sound and then I add a sketch of the water sound, just because it feels the thing to do.
I continue to breathe – letting the life around me nest as a memory. And then it is time to move on, and as I do I say “Thank You.” As I walk to the next station I realize that I just engaged in an act of prayer.
The faithful and the friends of Lazy F gathered Saturday, May 17 for a day of contemplation, thanksgiving and praise for God’s magnificent creation. As one of the participants said: “God is everywhere!” Faithful wandered through seven self-guided prayer stations, scattered throughout the camp. Each prayer station had a different activity – something to notice or something to do or some way to engage in conversation with the Master Creator.
One commented that she arrived a little anxious – not knowing what to expect – and left with a sense of peace. Another said that this was exactly what he needed. Hundreds of men, women and children enter this place every year and leave having been touched in some way by the ministry of this sacred place.
It is for this ministry that we pray.
What a helpful post. One can sense the “peacefulness” of that place made sacred both in the acts of creation and in the continued usage of Lazy F by so many over the years.
Many of us get to enjoy it at the older adult camp (Lazy Daze) in September.