Article April 30, 2012 Issue

'Spiritual armor' at summer camp

Brittany Duke

Courtesy photo

Last summer I went to a summer camp for Christian Scientists near where I live. I was attending Ski Camp, which is a two-week program that takes place off campgrounds. We stayed in cabins by the lake and went waterskiing and wakeboarding almost every day. I was excited to try wakeboarding for the second time. (In case you don’t know, wakeboarding involves strapping your feet into a board similar to a snowboard. You stand up in the water and try to go from side to side across the wake left by the boat.)

I went out behind the boat and stood up on the wakeboard. I tried to go from side to side across the wake, as I’d been taught, but I didn’t realize I would fall if the edge of the wakeboard got caught in the wake. One of my edges soon caught, and I face-planted. As soon as my face hit the water, my mouth started to hurt, and as I came to the surface, two of my counselors noticed the blood on my face.

I got back in the boat, feeling worried about how much my mouth and nose hurt. But then I thought back to something the group had talked about before we got out on the boats. We always have quick metaphysical meetings, or “mets,” before each activity so that we’re outfitted with our “spiritual armor”—ideas about God that keep us safe by reminding us about our spiritual perfection. We also read the Christian Science weekly Bible Lesson every day as a regular part of summer camp. I’ve always found that the metaphysical ideas from these meetings help me stay calm in situations that seem potentially harmful, and this time was no exception.

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