boyhood

I'm in PA - I'll be working at Summer's Best Two Weeks (www.sb2w.org) for the next month, guiding wilderness adventure trips and ministering along side of a quality group of men and women. Arrived on Monday (11th) and was on a bus en route to our rock climbing destination with a group of 15 boys early the next morning. I love the raw energy of boyhood. I spend the day watching (and joining) boys of all ages as they climbed cliffs, scrambled on rocks, pushed over trees, captured and cooked craw fish, slid off a waterfall into a cool pool of fresh water - as they devoured hot dogs, toasted wet shoes over the fire, and as they couldn't possibly refrain from playing with flaming sticks. Theirs was a refreshing presence to be in. One of the other counselors asked me to tell the boys about how I met Jesus - I ended up telling them what I have found the way of Jesus to be like since I met him. I told them that I think, if we listen quietly - quietly enough to hear the music of the rain or the sound of a baby sleeping - then we'll probably hear, each morning when we wake up and our hearts are the most vulnerable, the Spirit of Jesus whispering something about an adventure, something of an invitation; and maybe we should start asking if we can be a part, or just start being -- 'enjoy being' as the bumper sticker on the small pink car on Central Avenue in Indianapolis says. The raw energy of boyhood, that's what it is - it's being, and enjoying it. We could all learn a bit from such childlike enthusiasm.