March 19, 2026
I was at Camp Wapo this last summer and I was observing things which is something I get to do when I am by myself. If you see me by myself do not feel sorry for me because I am actually enjoying myself because I love observing people.
A high school youth group was at camp and one of the members of their party was clearly a girl who was on the autistic spectrum who had a great deal of anxiety. I watched this high school group with great curiosity and ultimately with great joy. The autistic girl with the anxiety was very nervous about participating in anything and the girls would take turns, the girl’s in her youth group, would take turns being with her. They just sat with her and had a ministry of non-anxious presence and acceptance with her. In Group games the girls of her group would surround her and did not get upset when they got tagged or caught or whatever. I figured it out that each one of the girls in that group only got to do about 95% of what she could have done had this girl not been with them. But they each sacrificed 5% of their fun so that the autistic, anxiety ridden girl in their midst would 100% know that she was loved and accepted. Kids these days.
Let us pray: Father in Heaven, help us to recognize goodness in all of its forms. Help us to realize that the greatest thing we can do in any moment is simply love. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.