A few essay’s written by Henry Alvin in the realm of Academia:

My Latest Essay’s”

A Hand Left Unheld:

When I was about twelve my grandfather had a brother pass away and I remember the funeral so clearly in my mind, almost as if it was a scene from the cinemas. My grandfather was wearing a pair of black ropers, a brand-new pair of Levis, and his customary dress shirt. Always a V-neck polo and always having some form of a horizontal stripe pattern. Today, the primary color was a shade of red just a bit darker than Fire Engine, accented with narrow bands of white, navy blue, and black. I remember my own attire equally as well, but for a reason all its own. I had spent more time getting ready that morning than most teenage girls do while getting ready for Prom. This was not because I wanted to look perfect for pictures or Sally because is such a wench! There is no way I’m going let that sow look better than me! No, this was because I wanted to make my grandfather proud, I wanted to represent him in a way that brought honor without a word being said. The pants were easy, a new pair of bradded Wranglers, shoes again easy, black ropers, but the chink in the amour today was the shirt. At twelve, I was that weird stage of getting pudgy right before puberty hit and trying to find my own fashion. I went through my clothes God only knows how many times, my plan that morning was to wear the typical white button-up you are forced to wear to “nice occasions” but insert getting chunky. Thankfully, a cousin had spent the night so he could go to the funeral as well, and thank the Lord brought an extra white shirt just in case because I didn’t own one that fit.

I am not sure if we had a funeral or just a graveside, but the scene I do remember was at the cemetery. While my uncle was preaching his brother’s own service I remember looking at my grandpa several times a minute. Waiting to see how he would react and not knowing if I was prepared should that man cry. You see, crying, or emotions other than some variant of mad, was not often displayed unless it was my grandmother. I suffer from a rare personality type that roughly two to three percent of the world population have. It is even hard to get those results on the personality tests because of the way our brain works coupled with the other downside that often we have moved past second guessing an answer and moved onto a fourth and final guess then deliver an answer all before we know anything has happened. The reason I bring this up is one of the factors in an INFJ is “feeling” – in short, I can walk into a Pizza Hut and within five minutes soak up the ambient emotional climate and focus it all through my own psyche. I may not have seen my grandfather crying I could, however, feel the pain inside of him. This feeling of loss and remorse was intensified by everyone else’s loss and tear stained eyes. Even as I am writing this now, I can almost see that big screen transition to white with the cliché whooshing sound and the scene of the graveyard come into focus.

My grandpa is standing in front and to the left of me. It is an early spring morning and has been raining intermittently all night into the morning. We are in the cemetery where most of the family have been laid to rest, speaking of our local branch. Even now, as I am retelling, I do not know if it actually appeared this way or my minds’ eye is putting its own cinematic flare to my memory and the tone, but the grass was a vivid green one as to which the rolling hills of Ireland would be envious of. The sun is piercing through the clouds in a way that looks as if the good Lord Himself is shining a divine stage light upon our remorseful family. Everything else in the middle of the golden rays and emerald is a muted or grey color with the exception of my grandpa’s shirt, it is a stark contrast from the background.

I hear the distant sounds of my grandma and a few other ladies weeping, a single bird singing a lonely song, and the scent of the bereavement bouquets dancing upon the wind. The ambient feeling of pain, loss, and sorrow is so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. The emotions I feel from others is so overwhelming I honestly feel as if I am not physically here in the midst of the tombstones with my family, but as an observer from an alternate dimension. Trying so intently not to cry, men don’t cry, my eyes are laser focused again upon the man in a red shirt. He may seem innocuous and unimportant to the rest of the world but to me, that man was my rock, the anchor that kept the wayward S.S. Henry from capsizing in the stormy waters of life. My eyes honed in on his right hand. If one was to take in his posture and the way the man’s hand was held a hundred years ago, one might think he was about to draw down upon the preacher. While that may have looked good for The Duke and the silver screen, there was no six-shooter at my grandfather’s hip. Staring at that man’s hand I felt the overwhelming urge to grasp my grandpa’s hand and tell him that it was alright, that I loved him, and was here for him all with the squeeze of a hand.

I wish I could tell you I did just that. Kicking aside the societal view of what a man did or did not do, that I cared more for my grandpa than what anyone thought of my manliness. That I hugged his neck and told him that I loved him after they lowered his brother into that red clay. Sadly, I did no such thing, and I only managed to take a step forward and just a bit closer to him. After it was all over and he turned toward me, I could see just how much he needed that hug and heartfelt words, but they caught in my throat like sand in a parched dehydrated desert goer. While reading this remembrance of events and the missed opportunity of a young man to tell his grandfather that he loved him you might come to the conclusion that I never got that chance. Praise God that is not the case here, I did get that chance, and I still get to tell that man, who made such an impact upon my life, just how much I love him and honored him as well.

Like many parents can testify having a child can shake you to your core. They can grow and mature you overnight, making things that once seemed like a mountain to become nothing more than a molehill. After the dust settled of my son being born and I finally got a chance to breathe, I just held my boy. I took in every single inch of him and how much we looked alike- our hands, our feet, our nose, and our mouth. This tiny blessing, sent from my Heavenly Creator, appeared as a clone, and with that moment, I changed. I finally realized what being a “man” was all about, and to date I had never been one. Realizing being a man had nothing to do with how much blood I could spill in a parking lot, how much beer I could drink, how fast I could go, or anything else stupid that is “manly”. No, I knew in that moment, my job as a man started right then, my job was to raise the tiny life in my arms. To put my son upon a path where Henry junior would never hesitate to hold his daddy’s hand, to hug his neck, or tell him that he loved his dad, granddad, uncle, or any other guy who meant something to him. My job was to show him love, how to love, and what love was. How to walk upright in integrity and do our best to be as close to that one perfect man as we can.

With age comes maturity. With age comes wisdom, and through that wisdom I have learned the importance of knowing ones’ self, and it took simultaneous life altering events for me to find myself. You know that saying “there is an exception to every rule”? I am the reason for that, I touched the hot stove twice. Thankfully, with that stubbornness God created me with came a determination to break the cycle and make a change. While I do stumble and fall, and there will be times when I fail, one thing remains true:

My sons will never be a hand left unheld.

Modern Weregild:

A lawman stands at a bar seemly at a complete loss. After a drink sitting on the bar gives him a sudden flash of inspiration, he takes a few steps away and quickly turns on his heels. A quick draw and the hammer falls followed by a murderer that was hiding in a loft. Kneeling down, he picks up a gold coin beside the fallen body. “He’s the fella we wanted. I guess this is his. Nice, fresh $50 gold piece, it’s just about what Burdette would figure a man’s life is worth. That’s earning money the hard way.” — Dude played by Dean Martin from “Rio Bravo” 1969

While in modern times, it may seem completely alien and wrong to put a price on a person’s life, with slavery being abolished on January 31, 1865, the thirteenth amendment in America (Library of Congress), and in August 23, 1833, for the United Kingdom (Victorian Royal Navy). There are still some elements of this we still use today.

Elements of weregild is still common practice all across the globe today. While many people may not use, or even have heard, the term weregild they have experienced it in some fashion.

Weregild— ˈWer-ˌgeld — the value set in Anglo-Saxon and Germanic law upon human life in accordance with rank and paid as compensation to the kindred or lord of a slain person (Merriam-Webster).

While in modern America one does not immediately go to the family of a wrongful death, or a murder victim, and pay them for the loss of life, modern culture does still institute this in a different manor. In the People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson, the former NFL star was on trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nichole Brown Simpson, and ultimately got off due to evidence being tampered with. While many was outraged by this, including the family of Nichole Brown Simpson, the criminal case was thrown out. OJ was taken to civil court and was found guilty for the murder of his ex-wife. At this point, jail time was off the books, but OJ Simpson had to pay thirty-three and a half million dollars to the families of Nichole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman for damages. (britannica.com)

There are more common elements of wergild in much lower and more probable instances in the common person’s life. Minor fender benders settled without going through insurance companies, the window of a neighbor gets broken with a baseball and the kid has to pay for it, maybe the parents pay for the damage and the kid works off their debt. This is also modern wergild.

The concept behind wergild is in its most basic form a means to hold revenge at bay. In centuries past, it was established to keep the murder victim’s family from taking revenge, thus in turn start a blood feud. An example of a blood feud is the Hatfeilds’ and McCoys’ of 1863, where the death of one family member was avenged by killing a member of the other family and went back and forth until 1891 (history.com). This practice was instituted so countless murders did not happen, though in the case of its inception in the thirteenth century ( Merriam-Webster.com) may not be for the reason one would think. While the family of the victim did receive money for the loss of life, more so for the lost wages rather than the price of that person. Ultimately, it benefited the rulers of the land of which the people lived upon. At the end of the day a family feud was costly to the rulers in lost productivity, and if the death should be of a skilled tradesman, would hinder the Lords, Kings, Queens, or whatever figurehead was installed. Back in those days, trade was a coveted position and often ran by families. Putting it in modern times this would be akin to medical doctors getting into an all-out war with firefighters, then the medical surgeons side with the doctors and get involved, thus causing law enforcement to side with firefighters. Modern civilization would be in complete upheaval and chaos. This might be one scenario where at least for a short time much of the world would be in agreement, that an end needs to be found to stop this.

Likewise, if the family responsible for running the forge killed a member of the family who runs the tannery, without wergild being in place, two valuable trades would be at best behind, and at worst two entire skilled trades be lost the ruling powers. Nobody to run the forge equals no blacksmith work, which means no horseshoes, farm tools, carpentry tools, or nails to build houses. No armor for the army’s defensive ability upon the battlefield, no swords to attack the enemy with, no arrowheads to affix to the shafts for the archers to use. It also means no tanners to take the animal skins and give leather. This means no saddles for the Calvary, no leather armor for the foot soldiers, or leather garments that goes under the plate armor or chain mail, and many other things.

Coming back into modern times, this is something just about everyone has experienced either directly or indirectly. At the very least, it is something that has been seen or heard some kind of reference to since TV shows like Judge Judy has been on the air.

While it no longer directly applies solely to the death of an individual and more often than not, applies to more mundane things like speeding tickets, insurance deductibles, and other things along those lines, wergild is still going strong in modern society. A person can choose to go one hundred in a fifty-five, but if they get caught they will have to pay the price. Weregild does not totally stop everything that can be a danger or disruptive to society, but it certainly does hold it at bay, as opposed to absolute anarchy and the wheels of modern life come screeching to a halt.Work Cited:

Work Cited:

britannica.com, https://www.britannica.com/event/O-J-Simpson-trial. Accessed 10 Apr. 2021.
history.com, https://www.history.com/shows/hatfields-and-mccoys/articles/the-hatfield-mccoy-feud. Accessed 10 Apr. 2021.
Library of Congress
“Weregild.”
Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wergild. Accessed 9 Apr. 2021.
Victorian Royal Navy, https://www.pdavis.nl/Legis_07.htm.

Camp For Life:

Like many people I went to summer camp as a teenager. Without conducting a poll, I am willing to bet most Americans have either went to camp their self or seen something to do with camp in some form via TV, movies or books. I myself enjoyed going to two different summer camps as a teenager, ALD which is a leadership camp done through the FFA and Falls Creek which is a Christian based youth camp.

I’m sure most of us has a camp story of their own either from personal experience or about a chainsaw wielding mad man sporting a hockey mask. As much as I would love to share camp stories that is not what this article is bringing into the spotlight. No, we are delving into the world of running a youth camp. For a large portion of this article, I will be referencing an interview done between Brian Bauldwin and Todd Sanders and myself. I will also be referencing an interview done with Erica Ihrke who runs a youth camp in Michigan centered around giving blind and low vision teens the camp experience.

So, the first thing I wanted to know was what exactly did they want the public to know about their camp? I love Todd’s answer to this question, “First we want to see the lost saved!” Despite running the largest and oldest youth camp in the world (Bauldwin) it is still about leading teens to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith in God and their understanding. While Todd’s response was geared more toward the church, I love it. Brian took the stance on his answer more like a news crew gave him a few seconds to speak to the masses.

“Falls Creek is kind of an Oklahoma heritage in that it has deep roots in our state. It’s something that hundreds of thousands of people, Oklahomans especially have been a part of and that if you’re a teenager you should come check this thing out and see what all the big deal is about!”

I do have to say I love Erica’s answer equally as well as Todd’s for a whole different reason. “That Summer Experience Camp at Leader Dog it is a camp similar to any other camp. We have lots of fun activities and challenges, but the participants just happen to be visually impaired.”

Conducting this interview, I found out Falls Creek reaches roughly ten percent of students in Oklahoma not to mention the campers coming from other states. That is a staggering amount, for those who love numbers, they reach roughly 300,000 students in eight weeks (Sanders). Since the inception of Falls Creek in 1917 approximately 3.5 million people have come through Falls Creek (Sanders). That can bring logistical nightmares to the faint of heart, those outside of the military or don’t have God’s blessing upon them.

This makes a nice segue way to the next question I had for these gentlemen. “What is the most challenging part of running a youth camp?”

Logistics both Todd and Brian agreed. Brian gave the example of a few years back the theme revolved around each camper getting a puzzle piece. Picturing Brian and others searching Amazon for the worlds’ largest puzzle, there are other things to consider when preparing for camp. There are eighty sermons preached in those eight weeks (Sanders). For those like myself figuring this up it is a year and a half worth of Sunday mornings. For those who went to Falls Creek back in the day where you sat in the tabernacle outside dressed in pants dying of heat stroke…let me tell you how things have changed.

Now they have a new indoor tabernacle and the gift shop is no longer the only place to find air conditioning. The new tabernacle comes equipped with AC, cushioned seating and big screens so no matter where you are at you can see what’s going on. Oh, lest we not forget the new sound system. They also have ICEE’s!, which if you ask Brian is one of his favorite parts of camp. Sounds to me like he went to the old camp like I did. They have added zip lines, more rope courses and many other fun activities since I went as a kid. They even have Wifi! No standing in line at the pay phone anymore to call home. I mention this to further elaborate on the logistics they didn’t mention of having to supply the concession stands. Then there is the logistics on the behalf of the churches coming to camp needing to find and rent a cabin, transportation to and from camp, sponsors, cooks and food. My Lord the amount of food. A few years back I had the blessing as going as a sponsor and to help lead the music with my former church. We had a group of about twenty campers being close to half boys and half girls. To the parents of teenagers, I don’t have to go into the amount of food they put away. To those who haven’t experienced raising or feeding a teenager just imagine a group of ravenous first graders diving for the candy after a piñata has exploded… I’ve never seen a mouse at Falls Creek and I’m sure it’s because they figured out long ago, they would starve to death if they lived there because teenager don’t leave an atom of food.

Adding to all of that those administrators running the camp also have to come up with material for and people to teach the breakout sessions. These are more intimate classes more akin to a small group that teaches a wide range of things to students. More geared towards the leadership roles and helping students grow in and get a better understanding of their faith. One I took personally as a leader and voulen-told my boys was one where upon completion we got our man card.

You may be asking why does a grown man need to take a class on how to be a man? Well, this class didn’t go over what the stereotypical view society has upon being a man but rather what it looks like being a man of God. What we are called to be as followers of Jesus Christ, what a Godly man looks like and how to seek after him. What it looks like being a Godly husband. Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage (Holy Bible, Ephesians Ch.5) . Even though this class is pointed toward teens I got something out of it and giving them a forward thinking look into parenthood what it looks like being a Godly loving Christian dad. “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Holy Bible, Ephesians 6).

While the camp at Leader Dog in Michigann is not the worlds’ largest (Baldwin) logistical seems to be the Achilles tendon for them as well just for a whole new reason. Leader Dog’s camp is 100% free to campers and I don’t mean just the camp, I mean everything. They fly the campers out from their nearest airport or find other transportation if they live closer and feed them for the time of camp. I will also note that Leader Dog does the same for their Orientation & Mobility classes and guide dog classes. Everything at Leader Dog is totally free for the consumer which is a blessing in itself as many blind or low vision are on fixed incomes. LD also has the added logistics of flying people from all around the world, rounding up volunteers to drive as well as everything else that goes with a youth camp.

One thing that took both Falls Creek and Leader Dog by surprise and scrambling to get camp to so many who was looking forward to their experience was the 2020 Pandemic. No one expected a pandemic the likes of the Spanish Flu outbreak a century past it happened all the same and both organizations done their best to bring some level of normal to campers this past summer going virtual. While not the same as an in-person camp I am sure connecting with other teens in lockdown lifted their spirits and bless both camps for doing that. All three interviewed stated they looked forward to returning to in person camp and I could hear the grief they all had in their voices when talking about it.

I would like to take a moment and let anyone know who would like to get involved with either of these camps you are completely able to do so no matter what. I know many people are thinking” I couldn’t get off work for a week”, “I don’t live near Davis, Oklahoma to help with Falls Creek” or “Leader Dog in Michigan is so far”, “I’ve never worked with blind kids.” You may be correct in thinking that but donations are a big part of what allows Leader Dog’s doors to stay open and their lights on as well as Falls Creek could use donations. going further than that you could sponsor a camper for Falls Creek through a local church if you are in the Oklahoma area or do so through contacting someone at Falls Creek. Additionally, prayers for both camps, those who run it and the campers attending cost you nothing and help far more than you will ever know.

When asking Todd, Brian and Erica what their favorite parts of camp was there answers was all about the kids and watching them grow.

“seeing students grow, to really see transformation happen is what pushes me” (Sanders)

Brian loved seeing the students take part at the end of evening service when other students come down for prayers, coming to Christ or making a decision to go into some mission field. (Baldwin)

“I have many favorite parts of camp, but one of my all-time favorite parts of camps is taking campers to Lions Bear Lake Camp where they have an opportunity to try a rock wall and zip line. Many times, they’ve never been given the opportunity to try things like this because of public preconceived notions of “they can’t do that because they’re blind”. Almost all that try the rock wall and zip line succeed. Even if they don’t succeed, they have challenged themself and that alone is success.” — (Ihrke)

again, I love all these answers and they all hit really close to home for me all with different reasons. As a former youth leader and Sunday school teacher like Todd I love seeing the kids grow in their faith and the transformations that take place, like Brian I love seeing young men and women step up and take part displaying a level of love out of the norm for a teenager. Finally, Erica’s answer because six and a half years ago I started losing my eye sight and went almost totally blind about three years ago. People like Erica are helping blind people as well as the general population realize that blindness is not as limiting as one might think. Sure, there is some serious adaptation needed but very little is impossible for a blind or visually impaired person.

One thing that became abundantly clear to me while conducting these interviews, these amazing people have huge hearts, love kids, have a desire to help them reach new heights and camp is not merely a job, camp is for life for these people.

Works Cited

Personal Interview
Baldwin, Brian. Personal Interview. 03/08/2021
Book
Bible
Personal Interview
Ihrke, Erica. Personal Interview. 03/08/2021
Personal Interview
Sanders, Todd. Personal Interview. 03/08/2021

The First Eucatastroph

We all enjoy a happy ending, the point in the story where the person who the story has focused on “lives happily ever after.” How this is obtained comes in many different ways but let’s take a look at the first and greatest of all time.

The meaning of the word would give some context of this concept. The word eucatastrophe was coined by J.R.R. Tolkien meaning “a catastrophe (dramatic event leading to plot resolution) that results in the protagonist’s wellbeing” (word sense.eu). In fact, the point in history that we are looking at is mentioned by J.R.R. Tolkien in his comments upon the creation of the word (tolkiengateway..net).

The first example of this is found in the Bible in the books of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. To summarize, Jesus Christ was arrested and demanded to be punished by Jewish leaders basically for calling them out and disrupting their way of life. Floored by Jesus referring to God as His Father, and with the healing of the sick on the Sabbath. Eventually betrayed by one of the men who was always around, Jesus was finally arrested, brought before a Roman official who found no guilt in Jesus, the Jewish leaders still insisted. Seeing a way out of crucifying Jesus, he tried to utilize the tradition of freeing a prisoner for the Passover festival. Instead, the Jewish leaders incited an uproar, calling for the release of a man notorious in his crimes. Jesus was nailed upon a cross living a truly blameless life, committing no sin, and doing nothing but good.

Throughout the time Jesus spent on earth He taught His disciples of who he was and why he came. The coming and death of Jesus was foretold by the Old Testament prophets. Jesus had come to die for our sins and give us the gift of eternal life in Heaven.

Knowing all of this when Jesus died, his disciples went into hiding and depression. However, this is where the first case of eucatastrophe comes into play. Three days later, Jesus Christ rose from the grave, arresting death, and making us perfect in the eyes of God. All we have to do to obtain this perfection is to follow Jesus Christ and His teaching.

While the reader of the Gospels knows of his resurrection, the disciple’s find out when Jesus appears in a locked room before them. Later, Thomas, one of the disciples who was not there at the first sighting, told the others he would not believe until he saw the wounds. When Jesus appeared, Thomas believed. Jesus appeared several more times before He finally ascended to Heaven starting the ushering in of the Holy Spirit that gives us access to the Father and the Son. What we now have, instant access, took several years for the followers of Christ to receive. In Luke’s second book, Acts, he describes the Spirit coming upon them. Today, however, the Spirit comes upon believers instantly after surrendering their life to Christ, making Him the Lord of their life. A truly happy ending for all who accept.