Alpha and Omega

"Prayers should be the key in the morning and the lock at night"

During church service sometimes I will daydream or get lost in thought. I will look around the church at all the stuff around me, even though most things have been the same my whole life. On the parament on the pulpit there are both an alpha (Α) and omega (Ω) symbol. These remind me of camp.

Everyday in the summer at camp Ewalu the campers and counselors do an alpha and omega. Alpha takes place in the morning and omega is in the evening before bed.

Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, which explains why camp does alpha in the morning. During each alpha campers and counselors welcome God into worship and into their day. They do this through songs both silly and religious. Also through invocations, skits and praise.

Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet so it takes place at the end of the day. For Omega, most counselors have the campers go around in a circle and name their rose and thorn of the day. These are the highs and lows. Roses have the good, flower part, and the bad, thorns, but you have to have both to have the rose. So the campers will get to hear what fellow campers highs and lows are of the day. Its funny when one camper will say what their high is and another camper will shout out “what, that was today?” It’s funny in the fact that at Ewalu time is not something that is monitored by the kids and often days blend together. The older groups are asked, “Where did you see God today?” This is one of my favorite questions because it is amazing all the little things that campers will say and even the big things are amazing too. God is everywhere at camp and its wonderful for kids to see Him.

Alpha and omega are just two small parts of the day but it is one of the biggest at the same time. It doesn’t take long to do and it can be done anywhere. Many people forget that God is with them or they just don’t acknowledge that God is present. I believe that people should take a few minutes out of their busy schedules each day to recognize God and that He is with them. This can literally be done anywhere; in the shower, in the car on the way to work or school, even in the few seconds before falling asleep. All one would have to do is say or even think “God you are with me today, thank you.” Its something that is truly amazing to be able to know that God is with us and will be there in our day.