Jesus Was A Camper
Seven Pillars of Presence · Hit the Trail
The Quietest Place in the Yard
Ballpark About half an hour, give or take. Could be ten minutes. Could be all afternoon. Up to them.
Your job is to find the quietest spot out here. Then sit in it and see what happens.
Gather
“Somewhere out here there’s a spot that’s quieter than all the others. I don’t know where it is. Go find it.”
Go
“Spread out and hunt. No talking while you look.
When you find your spot, sit down and stay put — long enough for the yard to forget you’re there.
Then start counting sounds on your fingers. Come back when you run out of fingers.”
While they’re at it
Find your own spot and sit in it. You’re doing this too. Don’t supervise, don’t narrate, don’t help. Just sit.
↯ If they go off-trail
If somebody finds a bug instead of a quiet spot, let them. Ask what sound it makes. Nothing out here is a wrong answer.
Notice
“Where’d you sit?
What was the last sound you counted?
Was anything out here making noise you’d never noticed before?
Which one would you go back for?”
Open
“Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” Psalm 19:2
“David wrote that about a world that never stops talking. You just counted ten of them on your fingers.”
Carry
“Sometime this week, when you’re outside, see if you can find a quieter spot than the one you found today.”
A word for you
You don’t have to explain the verse. They felt it before you read it. That’s the whole trick.