Another year has come and gone and i've once again recorded a collection of songs to give away to family and friends.
The songs in this collection have been with me for about as long as I can remember. I’ve been singing their lyrics at Camp Olivet since I was a fetus in sneakers. It was at Olivet that I first began strumming the guitar to their often mislabeled chords. These songs and the meaning that they hold have evolved with me over the years. Today, some of the lyrics make me roll my eyes with their horrible theology. Some of them send a shiver up and down my spine. Some of them are simply beautiful meditations on the character of God and his kingdom.
As a child, my cousins and I wrote verses for “Humble Yourself” to sing one Sunday morning. Those new verses found their way into the Camp Olivet songbook and have been synonymous with the tune ever since. At some point during my early adolescence it became expected of me to sing “Keep It On Going” every day at camp until my voice was no more. Now an adult with children of my own, I have returned to Camp Olivet to play my guitar and sing these songs. The sessions are loud, often goofy and sometimes surprisingly moving.
I’ve found new life in these songs. I have accepted that like anyone who has a history with Camp Olivet, for better or worse, these songs are a part of me.
