#33 Grace Intersects With Nature

Getting together around the campfire in the evening was usually a time of singing and listening to someone speak about life and God. Some of these times were good contemplative opportunities to think about who I was and why I was here--the big questions we can’t help but encounter as we’re growing up. Other times were not so peaceful. Like sitting through a miserable talk that was a judgmental, guilt-inducing manipulation of the heart. Looking back, it seemed a bit like spiritual abuse. The idea in both cases was to help us behave like perfect, mistake-free kids who would make our parents, our church and, of course, God very proud.