Poem for Camp Gilmont: Come and Connect

Poem for Camp Gilmont: Come and Connect 

I sense in me and in others a deep yearning
 to connect and experience and know God,
the one who creates us, calls us
and gives our lives meaning.

In this yearning is the desire
To have extended moments,
A time for listen and being and learning with Christ
That is outside of our normal routine.
This is Gilmont

I sense in me and in others a desire
To connect and know others
In ways I cannot through emails and meetings and lunches.
I want to be known and to know others
Deeper than just their names or the work they do or where they live.
I want to encounter their soul and they encounter mine.
This is Gilmont

I sense in me and in others a profound wanting
To connect with myself.
To be willing to be present with me
Beyond the distractions of everyday life.
To bring together all the scatter pieces of me
That run in many directions.
I want some way to see me, know me.
Truly love me and be loved by me.
Where can I connect with me in this profound way?
This is Gilmont.

I sense in me and in others a hunger
To connect with nature
To connect with creation, with the Earth from which we come.
So many times, my connections
With God
With others
With myself
Have happened in the midst of nature.
There is something inviting, freeing, life-giving
When I spend an extended period of time,
Hours and days
Among the trees and flowers, birds and sky, lakes and trails.
This is Gilmont

We are in a time of disconnection
From God, from one another, from self, from nature.
More and more of us believe there is no God, no deep connections,
No life-giving gifts from nature we need to receive.

Gilmont is more than a conference center
A place to which retreat.
It is a critical piece to the survival of our species
To the sanity of our race
To the yearnings of our soul
To the connections with Life Itself.
Gilmont offers us the space to connect,
To live
To love
To be
That we do not find in our normal walks of life.
This we must shout from the hills and lakes and trees of Gilmont
Come and connect.

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