I’M NOT SURE what the proportion of RVs to regular vehicles is on U.S. Highway 101 over the summer, but the ratio gets pretty high.
It isn’t the number of RVs that has caught my attention this year though. It’s the names they have been given by the manufacturer or the owner. Internet names owners gave to their rigs and, being the punster I am, I really liked “Keepin’ it Wheel,” “The S’More The Merrier” and “The RV Roamantics.”
I think psychologists would agree that the name someone gives to an RV reflects a deep hope for what will happen when they take it on a trip. Names like “Solace,” a name I saw recently, might capsulize today’s desire by many to just flee from the craziness that seems to be plaguing our world right now.
Spending time in an RV could provide a kind of restful healing solitude for many, but for others, simply being alone would be as “healing” as lying alone in a hospital bed, no offense meant to the medical profession.
True “re-creation” happens from my experience when at least two or three are gathered together.
For instance, when I wandered through Salt Creek campground recently, I found a lot of happy campers settled in not far from other travelers.
Life-long friendships have been known to sprout up among strangers out of nowhere when camping next to each other.
Campers introduce themselves with a handshake and an exchange of names and where they are from.
Outdoor recreation became a thing during COVID when “social distancing” was enforced. Camping became a way to be 6 feet apart but still a part of a community as ephemeral as it was. It was healing and preventive all at the same time.
Today’s political and economic chaos is like another kind of virus, and I think the symptoms are distrust and anxiety, and unfortunately, self-imposed “social distancing.”
The combination is taking a physical toll on us. Stress, personal and cultural, affects our health.
I don’t think the number of people in my personal circle of friends who have recently died or been taken significantly ill is just because they were getting older. Stress kills and is not good for body or soul.
This is a “Faith Issues” column, though, and not a political or health guru podium. Given my theme this month of RVs, I found myself musing about what it would be like if the Prince of Peace came back incognito, traveling in an RV.
After all, the first time around, Jesus was mostly in the countryside where he ministered to the weary, the sick in heart, mind and body, and to refugees from political and economic chaos.
RV campgrounds would be a great place for his comeback. People there are already seeking renewal on so many levels.
Heaven knows what kind of an RV Jesus would have. I doubt it would be a big or fancy one, but it would have a good-sized awning, I bet. People could come by if they wanted to chat. Kids would be welcome, too, with their dogs, on a leash of course.
I can even imagine that Jesus would have the charisma to successfully invite neighbor campers to the group hall in the center of the park for a potluck. All would be welcome. A little boy might come with his catch of fish and some bread his mom baked. And somewhere during the meal, Jesus would take that bread and bless it and invite others to raise a glass of whatever they were drinking and toast to their new friendships and community. Jesus might even announce at the end that he would be leaving soon and ask that every time they raised a glass of their favorite beverage to remember him with a toast.
Overnight, Jesus’ campsite would become available again. No one would have noticed his quiet leaving, but they had memories to share when they got home. And when they returned, maybe they would invite their neighbors over for a potluck like back at the campground.
They would share what a great time they had and the new friends they met, including the One who was so wonderful to talk with. It seemed like He had known them for a very long time.
So, if Jesus really did come back and had an RV, what name would you suggest he give it? Let me know.
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Issues of Faith is a rotating column by religious leaders on the North Olympic Peninsula. Don Corson is an Ordained Deacon in the Lutheran Church (ELCA) and the winemaker for a local winery. He is also the minister for Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Forks. His email is ccwinemaker@gmail.com.
