“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. Isaiah 60 AND 1.”
She’d shout it out early
on Saturdays.
And only on Saturdays.
Time to dust and sweep.
To scrub!
Help with laundry,
or maybe go outside
to pull weeds.
My friends slept in.
“Mom,” I’d moan. “Not so loud.”
Cold milk over dry cereal..
Don’t bother to brush my teeth.
We never go anywhere on Saturday mornings.
“Aaar -rise, and shi-ine, and … give God the glory glory. Ri-ise and shi-ine and … give God the glory glory. Rise and shine and … give God the glory glory, Children of the Lord.”
Separated by many miles, it was as if my mother had followed me to camp.
To annoy me? No.
An enthusiastic camp counselor sang it out,
loud enough to fully wake our cabin and others.
Tuesday through Friday.
Time to straighten our bunks.
To wash hands and faces.
Get dressed and straighten ponytails.
To raise the flags
and eat camp food
then a Bible lesson and a craft
and recreation and worship
at Lake Sallateeska.
Oops! Forgot to brush my teeth.
I couldn’t help but sing that song
In the middle of the day,
off and on for the rest of the week.
Teasing the counselor when she sat to eat or rest on a bench, I’d sing the melody and then mimic my mother by adding the address of the verse, “Isaiah 60 AND 1!”
Other girls began to join me in the teasing.
I wasn’t mocking my mother’s southern accent or the way she recited chapter and verse and did so with flair.
No cell phones back then,
but communicating, in a way, with my mother – two or three times daily,
Connecting over a common experience. A memorized Bible verse.
Mom had learned many important life verses in Girl’s Auxiliary,
She had been a GA back in her day
and gone to camp.
Slept on blankets on the ground. Cooked her own food over a campfire.
Made something like smores.
Now me.
Suffering on a thin mattress and a sleeping bag made for hibernating in the Artic.
In July. In Illinois.
Top bunk. Near an open window
where the smell of warm lake water and the sound of a frog put me to sleep.
A big frog. “A bull frog,” they said.
I took that camp counselor’s melody home with me.
And taught it to my mother who began to sing the words most Saturdays rather than shout them. Still way early.
Ahhh. That melody. It brought focus to my day early this morning.
Decades of 6 o’clock mornings later, that song can still wake me to a good day.
The words were mumbled as I sang this morning
because my mouth was full of toothbrush, paste and slobber.
But the words and melody that welled up in me were impatient to escape.
“Aaar -rise, and shi-ine, and … give God the glory glory. Ri-ise and shi-ine and … give God the glory glory. Rise and shine and … give God the glory glory, Children of the Lord.”
Is there a second verse? I wasn’t sure, so I had to sing it again as I brushed my lower teeth. The words even more mumbled.
After I’d rinsed and dropped my toothbrush into its holder, “Isaiah 60 AND 1!”
Reminder: Have you registered your child or teenager for camp this year. I’m pretty sure it’s not too late. I can’t say that I’m excited about the early rising part, but I’ll be at church camp in about three weeks, as a counselor. And for sure, I’ll be singing that song.
I hope you are having a great summer, making good memories and waking up to a song!
Be First to Comment