Jesus Was A Camper
Seven Pillars of Presence · Hit the Trail
Nobody’s Farming This
Ballpark An hour, maybe. They set the length. That’s part of the point.
Every feed you scroll is built to keep you. This is the one place that isn’t. Go find out what that’s like.
Gather
“Here’s the deal. Your attention is the most valuable thing you own — that’s why an entire industry is built to harvest it. Out here, nobody’s farming you. Want to see what that feels like?”
Go
“You run this one. Pick where we go. Pick how long we stay.
Find a spot, leave the phone in the car or on airplane mode, and just be somewhere no algorithm is steering you.
When you’ve got something worth saying about it, we head back. Not before.”
While they’re at it
Hand it over for real. If you pick the spot or call the time, you’ve made it another thing adults control. Let them lead, even if they lead badly. Especially then.
↯ If they go off-trail
If they turn it into a debate about whether phones are actually bad, let them win a few points. You’re not here to convince them. You’re here to give them one hour of evidence they can’t get scrolling.
Notice
“What’s different about how you feel right now versus an hour on your phone?
Who benefits when you can’t sit still with nothing?
What would it cost you to do this on purpose, once a week?”
Open
“Without speech or language, without a sound to be heard, their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19:3–4
“No feed. No push notification. Three thousand years and it’s still broadcasting, and it never once needed your data to do it. Sit with why that might matter.”
Carry
“You decide the challenge this week. Whatever it is, make it yours — not something anyone assigned you. Tell me next time what you picked and whether you did it.”
A word for you
This age can smell an agenda from a mile off. If they think you brought them out here to fix them, it’s over. You’re just two people outside. Let that be true.