This is a long post, but there is no short way to explain Greystone and its continuing impact. Set aside some time for this. There is oh so much goodness from many people, all the way to the bottom.
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2
As with all things Greystone, the Alumnae Reunion was again very well done. Having finally been last year, I knew we'd both laugh and cry....just like our days as campers. But of course the timing of this year's reunion was particularly poignant, merely two weeks after Libby's passing.
The bonds of love at Greystone transcend generation. Alumnae this weekend ranged from 25-75 but the stories are ALL the same. Greystone has had such a profound impact on everyone that has spent a night there, even the men on the kitchen staff and maintenance crew that have never been campers! Much of that sentiment is due to our "Dear Libby". Her influence on Greystone I truly believe is what has made Greystone weather all challenges the past few decades, recessions included.
Friday was a simply glorious afternoon, perfect for strolling camp and catching up on the dining hall porch before flag, where we remembered Jim Daddy's intense love for our country and the importance of this daily tradition. And we all made it on time:-) Our singing after dinner reminded first-timers that you actually can't ever forget Greystone songs! Our late night in White Hall was precious, complete with a lifelong video of Libby. She spent every single summer of her life at camp, a fact that makes any alumnae green (or gold!) with envy:-) We flipped through albums of previous alumnae weekends as Heidi beautifully lead us through singing of our favorite slow songs.
Las Vegas remembered.
I enjoyed sunrise on the dock with my Bible---one of my all-time favorite traditions. It is so easy to connect with God there. It is so easy to let go. It is so easy to Psalm 46:10 there. "Be still and know that I am God." It is ALL JUST SO EASY in the Greystone bubble.
Breakfast Club did not disappoint, Captains and Lieutenants were elected, and the 5k was great, albeit as humid as it ever gets at camp. Challenge Day in the pavilion was nothing short of hysterical. I'll just leave it at that!
There are no words for what happened during the dance off....
Taco bar on the street made for the perfect lake-side lunch. The fishing dock is such a nice addition since our days! The party barge took us out past Green Cove and Mondamin into Lake Summit, we passed our kayaking and sailing docks where we used to swim in the lake daily before the first pool was built. Remember the bus ride over and the daily drops? Such cool and dark water! Rifley was packed with eager shooters! Always the hottest activity for campers:-)
Remember when the new bridge was built?
At 4:30 we met at Jim and Libby's house for the annual visit there. Last year, of course, dear Libby was with us, to hug and listen to stories. This year, Dana shared gorgeous music as we remembered Libby and her tremendous impact on us. The stories shared left not a dry eye in the room.
Libby (and "Mama") was depicted as the most Christ-centered person that any of us have ever known. She woke praising Jesus. She spent her days living the 4-fold way for Christ and demonstrating for campers the true meaning of unselfishness that she taught us in Morning Assembly and at Council Fire. She went to bed adoring the God who made this all possible. She was a true example of a life literally lived for Christ. Libby exuded Romans 12:2.
We could have shared all night how Libby affected us, but Gervais' brilliance awaited us! The dining hall was all set up and ready for "Banquet", and in true banquet style! We completed all Banquet traditions from "Hail, Hail Greystone", to Felix the Cat, and, appropriately so, Libby's Toast.
"A toast to you we raise tonight, dear Libby.
To us you have been a guiding light, unselfishly.
To us you have been a guiding light, unselfishly.
Golden days of Greystone may pass,
But the memories of your love shall last.
Proud are we now to honor thee, dear Libby."
"It's to Libby that I raise my chalice this year,
She's always so positive with never a fear.
She reminds us all of the great Mrs. Banks,
To that alone she deserves quite a thanks.
She's always so positive with never a fear.
She reminds us all of the great Mrs. Banks,
To that alone she deserves quite a thanks.
As she diligently worked for the 75th
Libby's tenacity proved to be quite a gift.
Her class and her laugh are always seen,
In a way that to all of us is so very keen.
Libby's tenacity proved to be quite a gift.
Her class and her laugh are always seen,
In a way that to all of us is so very keen.
You drilled in our heads the importance of keeping the tentalows clean
So that when the health inspector came, he'd say, "All's peachy keen!".
Drink lots of water we all do recall,
But please don't shower so the water level won't fall!
So that when the health inspector came, he'd say, "All's peachy keen!".
Drink lots of water we all do recall,
But please don't shower so the water level won't fall!
She adores her little ones of which she has 5,
They continually work to keep her young and alive.
Your campers, however, are not quite the same,
We're more like Mrs Banks' crazy Michael and Jane!
They continually work to keep her young and alive.
Your campers, however, are not quite the same,
We're more like Mrs Banks' crazy Michael and Jane!
Your sidekick, Jubilee, follows you around,
Thank goodness he's there to keep you homeward bound.
And that's a good thing, too, so you're not kept on the wire,
When you confuse the order of events at your millionth Council Fire!
Thank goodness he's there to keep you homeward bound.
And that's a good thing, too, so you're not kept on the wire,
When you confuse the order of events at your millionth Council Fire!
Libby has showed us through her great example
The way one should care with loving that's ample.
Her willingness to help and strive to understand
Always appear in her sweet helping hand.
The way one should care with loving that's ample.
Her willingness to help and strive to understand
Always appear in her sweet helping hand.
You've taught us the importance of learning to grow
In the 4-fold way which we all know
Is the way that we must work to achieve
The happiness and joy in which we believe.
In the 4-fold way which we all know
Is the way that we must work to achieve
The happiness and joy in which we believe.
Libby, we'll never forget you or your Guiding Light of unselfishness
The values you strive to instill in us with such great thoughtfulness.
It's the memory of your love with which we're all blessed.
Libby, we love you dearly with all our heart's best."
The values you strive to instill in us with such great thoughtfulness.
It's the memory of your love with which we're all blessed.
Libby, we love you dearly with all our heart's best."
"...Bless us all that we may be, fit oh Lord to 'wear the G'" or "to honor Thee"????
Deep breath. Dab the tears. Then on to the fun awards. Age group winners of the 5k (the young kitchen staff is FAST!). Riflery and yoga winners. Challenge Day victors - Go Odds (did I really just say that??)! But let's move this along because we still have talent show!
Thank you Michael W. Smith.
"Friends are Friends Forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them...."
"Friends are Friends Forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them...."
There are absolutely no better words to describe Greystone friendships, and no better amateur voices to be found:-)
And as Libby always did to open camp and then close it, we went over the verses in the Pavilion.
Then off to float our Closing Vespers candles in Lake Edith, sing more, and roast marshmallows at Odd Point? Even Point? Who knows?!? All fancy, new fire pits to me!
While the reunion mimics our camping days fairly well, one stark difference is our late night talks in our cabins about our Greystone days and those we wish were with us now! Taps never blew, so what were we supposed to do? Go to bed?!?!
Sunday morning breakfast was another splurge, complete with Dana's CD's available and Allison's jewelry with awesome Greystone charms. Then off to Libby's for church after packing the car:-(
What a simple yet profound joy this opportunity is. Dana leading us in worship with both her intense piano and words of wisdom. Cathy Snapp to offer a brilliant new perspective and Heidi to offer harmonies.
"Come Thou Font", of course...no one needs the lyrics, thanks to Libby.
A treasure provided by Dana and Heidi---"I'm Gonna Let Myself Be Lifted"
Many thanks to Leland and Catherine for beautifully capturing so much of the 2017 Reunion Weekend here.
Dana puts things so very well:
"I am still feasting on the memories of our shared weekend together. Thank you all for your time and presence – for your love for one another in the bonds of friendship that reveal so many gifts which Greystone has bestowed. Indeed we are blessed to have been a part of this significant weekend in which we were able to honor Libby, and be together in such poignant ways. And laugh and play together!
You all bless me, and I thank you again for the opportunity to share with you some of the themes of my own journey that I trust are threads weaving throughout our common inquiry.
Thank you especially to Jimboy and Margaret, Katie, Laura and Gervais, Allie and Josh, and staff – you made the weekend outstanding in every way. Thank you Cathy Snapp for your exuberant, timely sharing on Sunday. And Heidi Strub, for your remarkable, beautiful voice that lingers with us all."
A few poems that Dana shared:
Kissing a Horse
by Robert Wrigley
Of the two spoiled, barn-sour geldings
we owned that year, it was Red—
skittish and prone to explode
even at fourteen years—who'd let me
hold my face to his own: the massive labyrinthine
caverns of the nostrils, the broad plain
up to the head to the eyes. He'd let me stroke
his coarse chin whiskers and take
his soft meaty underlip
in my hands, press my man's carnivorous
kiss to his grass-nipping under half of one, just
so that I could smell
the long way his breath had come from the rain
and the sun, the lungs and the heart,
from a world that meant no harm.
Of the two spoiled, barn-sour geldings
we owned that year, it was Red—
skittish and prone to explode
even at fourteen years—who'd let me
hold my face to his own: the massive labyrinthine
caverns of the nostrils, the broad plain
up to the head to the eyes. He'd let me stroke
his coarse chin whiskers and take
his soft meaty underlip
in my hands, press my man's carnivorous
kiss to his grass-nipping under half of one, just
so that I could smell
the long way his breath had come from the rain
and the sun, the lungs and the heart,
from a world that meant no harm.
Gone From My Sight Henry Van Dyke
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"
I Believe In All That Has Never Yet Been Spoken by Rainier Maria Rilke
From The Book of Hours, LovePoems to God
I believe in all that has never yet been spoken.
I want to free what waits within me
so that what no one has dared to wish for
may for once spring clear
without my contriving.
If this is arrogant, God, forgive me,
but this is what I need to say.
May what I do flow from me like a river,
no forcing and no holding back,
the way it is with children.
Then, in these swelling and ebbing currents,
these deepening tides, moving out, returning,
I will sing you as no one ever has,
streaming through widening channels
into the open sea.
The 5 C's
Compare, Compete, Complain, Condemn, Control = Contraction
Letting go of these, moving toward Compassion
Snapp spoke of the practice of Let BE (meaning pause and observe what the mind is doing), Let Go, Let In the good. good is like awe, gratitude, inspiration, love, compassion, willingness – let this soak into your awareness for at least 30 seconds….this changes the brain! A great resource is neuroscientist Rick Hansen.
Quotes shared:
The greatest generator of conflict, both internal and external, is our addiction to interpreting and evaluating each and every moment of our experience. When we continually judge and evaluate, we separate from what’s happening.
When we’re not responding out of conflict, division, and resistance, what manifests is pure compassionate action, wise action that comes from intimacy, stillness, and true connection.
PRACTICE THE PRAYERFUL PAUSE!
________________
The Litany of Humility
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated (slandered)...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…
from Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated (slandered)...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…
from Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X
from Julia Cameron THIS IS SO GREAT!!!!
(while this is written for a secular audience, I love some of the language, like "I set for myself a gentle vigilance towards negative thoughts."
This is in accordance – as is all that we spoke and thought about on Sunday morning – with the Scripture in Philippians 4:8 which says "Finally, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
Of course when I think of 'the universe' in the context of Julia's comments, I imagine God, our Creator as this inviting presence and Source. I imagine our Maker as the infinite intelligence that I have invited to partner with me in the renewing of my mind.
Life is intentional, not accidental. I bless this central fact. Consciousness instigates shifts in outer reality. Recognizing that I have the power to change my world by changing my thinking, I set for myself a gentle vigilance towards negative thoughts. When I fear abandonment, I remind myself that the universe itself is my loving companion. When I fear stagnation, I surrender into the deeper flow of life rather than willfully forcing artificial solutions. Constantly partnered by an interactive universe, I do my part by reminding myself that I am part of a larger plan, partnered by infinite intelligence. In its perfect pink blossoming, the bloom of the apple tree does not concern itself whether a bee will appear. The blossom does its job just by blossoming. The bee is drawn to do the rest. Rather than imagine that my yearnings are self-centered or counter to the flow of life, I practice simply blossoming in the faith that I attract what I need simply by following and blessing my true nature. Julia Cameron
___________
Hallulujah lyrics by Ma Muse
Every time I feel this way
This, old familiar sinking
I will lay my troubles
Down by the water
Where the river
Will never run dry
This, old familiar sinking
I will lay my troubles
Down by the water
Where the river
Will never run dry
Hallelujah Hallelujah (I’m gonna let myself be lifted, I’m gonna let myself be lifted)
Hallelujah (I’m gonna let myself be lifted)
Bye and bye
I will lay my troubles down by the water
Where the river will never run dry
It’s been said and I do believe
As you ask so shall you receive
So take from me these troubles
Bring me sweet release
Where the river will never run dry
Hallelujah Hallelujah (I’m gonna let myself be lifted, I’m gonna let myself be lifted)
Hallelujah (I’m gonna let myself be lifted)
Bye and bye
I will lay my troubles down by the water
Where the river will never run dry
There is a river
In this heart of hearts
With a knowingness
Of my highest good
I am willing
I will do my part
Where the river
Will never run dry
Hallelujah Hallelujah (I’m gonna let myself be lifted, I’m gonna let myself be lifted)
Hallelujah (I’m gonna let myself be lifted)
Bye and bye
I will lay my troubles down by the water
Where the river will never run dry
Where the river
Will never run dry
This river
Will never run dry
HALLELUJAH!!!!!! May you be blessed!
_____________________________
After Libby went to dance with Jesus, a Greystone Alumnae took the time to consider:
"25 Life Lessons" that Libby and Jim have taught me/us all (each of these has a story, some you'll recall yourselves):
1. Attitude is everything. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. "Keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole..."
2. Context matters. In Scripture. And in Life. Listen well. Look for what’s said before and after the main point. Get the full picture.
3. Get up early. Do something (or listen to something) that makes you smile. Appreciate those around you. Expect it will be a GREAT day. [Bonus = fresh-squeezed orange juice]
4. Set apart the Sabbath. Exercise. Worship. Take a longer rest hour. Refuel your body and spirit.
5. Remember to write home weekly. Or call. Remember to thank your parents.
6. You can learn a lot about someone by their shoes, their watch, and their luggage.
7. Ask forgiveness face to face. It’s always worth it. Give forgiveness graciously.
8. When swimming the Narrows, don’t fret about the canoe. Catch the throw-rope. Survival trumps dents in the brand-new Blue Hole.
9. No job is insignificant. Grab a broom. Fix the copier. Water the flowers. Pass out the popsicles. Pick up the candy wrapper. Send a handwritten note. Others notice. It does wonders for staff morale.
10. Surprise someone with generosity. Live unselfishly. You’ll never regret it.
11. Circle up important people in your life and tell them so. Let them know your life is better because they’ve been part of yours. Celebrate them. Specify what you appreciate most in them.
12. Memorize Scripture. Its promises bring hope, and you’ll be thankful it’s hidden in your heart someday when you’re not be able to read it.
13. Be a learner. And learn to listen. Stories at Council Fire. Life lessons at Breakfast Club. Taps. Know when to be rowdy and when to be still.
14. High and noble ideals still exist in this world. Seek to live honorably. Live with integrity.
15. Honor the flag and what it stands for. Consider those who’ve lost their lives for our freedom. Make every July 4th memorable.
16. Grow fresh flowers. Enjoy their beauty. Include sunflowers. Lots of sunflowers 
17. Choose a few favorite hymns. Let others know they’re your favorites and why. They’ll always remember you when singing them.
18. Dress for success. No flip-flops when running downhill. Look nice when flying home.
19. Don’t take the closest parking place. Leave that for a guest. Hospitality matters.
20. Honor older family members. Enjoy Cocktail Hour. Hear them reminisce. Ask good questions. Notice the changing seasons. Sit by the fire.
21. When meeting a child, always look her in the eyes. Get down on her level. Call her by name. Make that child feel like a million bucks. Her parents will thank you.
22. Write down your goals. Be specific. "If you think you can, you can. If you think you can, you can..."
23. Be a good friend. Someone who stirs up laughter and allows tears, who loves deeply, and who looks for and finds the good in others. Keep in touch.
24. Remember names. Names of books and authors who’ve inspired you. Names of favorite characters (Ike, Pike, and Mustard). And names of those who matter to you. It creates belonging and means more than you know.
25. A young person will remember his/her first boss for a lifetime. Be a great one.
Celebrating Libby Miller
Click here to view "Celebrating Libby Miller"
To view the 2016 Reunion Video, click here and scroll to the bottom.
Click here to view "Celebrating Libby Miller"
To view the 2016 Reunion Video, click here and scroll to the bottom.
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