Article January 14, 2013 ISSUE

God—always #1

Carter
Carter

While at summer camp, I was going on a caving trip in what is called Panther Cave. I had never gone caving before, so I thought that it would be no big deal. I was excited to try something new. 

Before we started caving, we were each given a number. Every so often, we would stop in the cave and yell out our number to make sure everyone was accounted for. I thought it was neat that my counselor’s number was two, because God is always number one! 

The cave walls were really wide when we started, and the walls closed in really fast. I started to get very afraid when we were walking through tight spaces in the cave. I wanted to leave the cave—I just wanted to go back out. But my counselors kept telling me that I could do it, that I didn’t need to go back, and to just keep going. I was still scared, even after they were encouraging me. 

So, I started praying with Hymn 53 from the Christian Science Hymnal. It was the first hymn I thought of, because it was one that I learned as a little kid. It begins:  

Everlasting arms of Love
Are beneath, around, above;
God it is who bears us on,
His the arm we lean upon. 

I kept praying with that first verse and repeating it over and over. As I did, the walls started to open up and I could eventually stand instead of having to crawl through tight spaces. I knew no matter how tight the walls got, God was still surrounding me. And I was not afraid anymore. I just kept walking through the cave, and it ended up not being as far as I thought it would be. 

Eventually we got to the end of the cave. Once I got out, I really wanted to do it again, because I realized how much fun I had had going caving with my cabin mates.

Carter, 12
Madison, Wisconsin

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