Radical Singers

Boy, these people at camp sure are political. In a leftward-leaning way I entirely approve of, mind you, but still.

My favorite activist here at camp has been Sister John, but she’s not a camp participant. On Saturday a couple of campers were admiring postcards in the country store down the road. They looked at the back of the cards and saw the pictures were taken by a Sister John. “Sister John??” the said out load. An older woman nearby piped up, “That’s me!” She came to dinner with us and was a delightful guest.

She’s a nun who has lived in McKenzie Bridge for over a decade now. She’s 84 but doesn’t seem to be slowing down much. If you’re picturing Mother Theresa forget it. Sister John doesn’t wear the habit. When I met her she wore jeans and a t-shirt and is downright burly. In her everyday work she cares for neighbors, friends, recovering addicts and down-and-outers. In addition, she is one of the original protesters at the annual demonstration at School of the Americas, where the U.S. military and CIA train spooks and guerrillas for South American governments. Now the event draws thousands of people each year, but she was one of the first and she still goes every year. She has a never-ever-set-foot-here again letter, stemming from her trespass charges at an early protest, posted highest on her wall of honors. I doubt I’ll follow in those precise footsteps but I surely hope to be as active and vital in my life’s work and my community when I’m 84 myself.

Tonight we had a little song circle in the chapel. The seating was non traditional because usually song circles are in, well, a circle, and naturally enough all the pews were facing the front. But the acoustics were great so no complaints. We have quite a bit of solo talent here and people had a chance to show off a bit. A bunch of people hailing from the Seattle Labor Chorus (including Jim and Martha who gave me a ride) taught us the, and there were several other labor and mining songs in honor of Labor Day. I was joined by a couple of lads from Derby England in a rendition of Blackleg Miner. If you’ve never heard it, it’s a somewhat gruesome description of the fate of strikebreakers… It was very well received despite being a bit rough around the edges. We had all of 10 minutes to prepare it but we pulled it off.

A shout-out to Janice who arranged the parts – the two Derby lads sang the tune while I sang the bass line, and we left the upper harmony out completely. I heard several compliments on the arrangement!

I also did a solo rendition of John Barleycorn, and was well received there too. That brings up one of my favorite parts of this camp. Everyone is shouting out praise and applauding other people’s efforts all the time. The talent isn’t uniform by any means, but we’re all working hard and working together. No one’s afraid to say when something isn’t right, but they sure are enthusiastic when it is.

Beauty and truth surround us all here. That’s how life should be. Oh, and about Sister John’s name. She chose it because of her fondness for the Gospel of John, most particularly where Jesus says, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Amen.