Credo
I came up with this a few years ago and still like it a lot. If I had been thinking, I would have used it as my blog's first post:
I believe in one God: a Force omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and eternal, that created the universe and all that is in it, that sustains all, that permeates all, that transcends all.
I believe that while the full nature of the transcendent God is beyond our comprehension, God’s presence is manifest in love, compassion, truth, justice, harmony, and beauty, and is further revealed through worship, study, and contemplation. I believe that devotion to these develops the element of God present within each of us, and in so doing, binds ourselves more closely to God.
I believe that God is opposed by Evil: a lesser, yet likewise omnipresent and transcendent, Force, that seeks the corruption of God’s works and purposes, and that exploits the limitations of human nature through undetected cunning, falsehood, and deception. I believe that Evil prospers parasitically, by manipulating the power of God to its own ends, and withers when it is recognized and isolated from God’s vital, sustaining strength. I believe it is our sacred duty to learn to recognize and resist the many subtle guises of Evil.
I believe that God created Earth to sustain life, that the presence of God infuses all life and all creation, and that the land, air, water, natural systems, and wild places of Earth, being of God and with God, are sacred to God and mankind.
I believe that in diverse times and places diverse societies receive insight into the nature of God; that these disparate insights are both uniquely informed and uniquely constrained by cultural and historical context; that each of these distinct insights nevertheless contains a valid apprehension of the one transcendent God; that the differences among them, arising out of perception and not substance, are illusory; and that as these many experiences compound over the course of human history, a deeper, richer relationship with God becomes available to successive generations.
posted by fausto @ 2/10/2005 10:01:00 PM
52 comments
52 Comments:
And here's another one, that we used to recite every SUnday at the summer camp I attended as a kid, and that I still like:
My Creed of the Out-of-Doors
Rudolph Carl Stroll
I believe in the wonder of the out-of-doors,
In the inspiration of the stars
And in the allurements of life in the open.
I believe in the strength of the hills,
In the silence of the night,
And in the music of the birds in the trees.
I believe also that my body was made for action,
That my mind was made for thinking,
And that my heart was made for loving
In unison with the life of nature.
I believe that to laugh and to sing,
To swim and to walk, to study and play,
To eat and be happy, to be kind and free,
To grow strong and good is my God-given right.
I believe, too, that to be happy I must be good,
That to be worthy I must be kind,
That to be loved, I must think love.
I believe that God is as near as man,
That I can hear Him in the brooks and the pines,
And that happiness and lasting peace are mine,
As I live in the atmosphere of kindness,
So near me in the life of the open road.
If you read between the lines, you can see that the damned "camp" was really a secret brainwashing facility for future generations of Pelagian nature-worshipers -- and they were good at what they did, too.
I like your creed, except for the word Force in the first line. Could you say Being or Presence instead? Just a thought....
"Presence" is already in there. "Being" implies an individuality and personal quality that I'm not ready to bear witness to, and that in some respects limits the divine qualities of immanence and transcendence. However, "force" implies directed power, and I do think divinity is both powerful and directed.
Hey Fausto, how do I find your e-mail address?
Peacebang, you could ask your favorite Persian mystic. The one I know is very good at e-mail.
Fausto,
I like your stuff. Both yours and the Pelagian nature poem! Do I know you?
By the way, I find it very refreshing that you believe in a force of evil.
Unity, no, I don't think we've ever met, but my sister-in-law did live around the corner from your church on Schaller Street a few years ago! And word has it that you're in some kind of clergy-parents-of-toddlers group with the minister of my church, Peacebang's favorite Persian mystic.
Incidentally, Unity, your Inauguration Day confession was hot stuff too.
Brewster?
Did you go to Forest Acres?
No, Camp Sangamon.
I attended Camp Sangamon as well. How long ago did you go there?
Wow, you're poking around some old threads!
Speaking of old, I attended Sangamon from 1967-1972. Woodcraft and fly tying were my favorite activities. (They've since stopped teaching both of them.) And as I understand, the old Sunday service notebook with the homilies about "everything's better in Jonesville" and the guy who built his future father-in-law a shoddy house, only to receive it back as a wedding present, has been lost.
However, when Larry Smith died two years ago, they did recite "My Creed of the Out-Of-Doors" at the memorial service in the little Congregational church in Pittsford. I wasn't there, but I heard it was standing-room-only with old campers.
My son and two nephews were there last summer. There was a Buzzell or two on the staff -- just as there was in my day. And my daughter went to BC a couple of years ago with Skeeter Lee's daughter. Higgity, haggity, hoggity, hi, pioneers just never say die!
Do you have an email?
Real Estate Toronto...
Creed Of The Out-Doors?
Ralph Carl Stroll
Is that the same Larry Smith who was a serial molester of young boys and did time for it?
There were always rumors among us kids about Larry's, um, inappropriate interests, but they were also always overblown as far as I know. I do know of one lesser accusation for which he pleaded "no contest" and agreed to step down as camp director for a few years, but I've kept in touch with the Smiths over the years; my son and nephews now attend Sangamon; my daughter and niece attend BC; both camps are still owned and run by the Smith family; and I've never heard of Larry "doing time".
Are you merely perpetuating the same old unsubstantiated rumors we all knew and discounted when we were younger? The poor man's dead, for goodness' sake, and he helped form the character of a lot of good kids. He deserves to rest in peace. Or if not that, at least someone who is willing to drag a dead man's name and reputation through the mud in a publicly published forum like this one ought to be courageous enough to put his own name on the accusation.
Hey Anonymous, do you suppose the writer of Mark Trail went to Sangamon too? (Click the link.)
I am a current Sangaman. I came across this site looking for the Creed and couldn't help but wonder when your last year at Sangamon was.
1972
Thanks for My Creed of the Outdoors. I am the Skeeter who is referred to in a previous post. My daughters both attended and have worked at Betsey Cox. I have visited Sangamon for the last ten years and it is doing well. Sangamon was a powerful place that was so positive for so many. Like any place that involves a wide variety of people, there are differing opinions. We would agree that Larry was an unusua person who had his weaknesses, but Sangamon did a lot of good for a lot of people.
Fausto,
I'm not perpetuating an unkind runor. Larry was a serial pedophile, fact. I was one of his victims at St. Albans School, an all-boys private school in D.C. where he taught 4th grade. I was not alone. He was asked to leave in approx. 1970. I was sad to hear that he continued to run an all-boys camp, especially when I read that one of the camp's "traditions" was a morning skinny dips by all the boys. But I took some comfort in hearing that he may have eventually been prosecuted. Apparently not, at least not in a meaningful way. You obviously have fond memories of Larry, and so clearly was never personally exposed to his "inappropriate interests" (as you so euphemistically put it). But out of respect for his many young victims, please don't make him out to be something he wasn't -- nor dismiss as mere "unsubstantiated rumor" his acts of pedophilia. It's offensive.
Fausto,
Unfortunately, it's not rumor. I was one of Larry's victims in 1970, at St. Albans School for Boys (where he taught 4th grade before being asked to leave). I witnessed it occurring with another young boy during a Sangamon Spring ski outing Larry organized for STA students. It's hard to see his pedophilia characterized as you do, with euphemisms like "inappropriate interests," or discounted as "unsubstantiated rumor." And I cringed when I read that one of Sangamon's traditions back then was a morning skinny dip for all the young boys. But I'm very glad you were not exposed to his sexual advances as a Sangamon camper. I would bet any amount of money that others were not so lucky, however.
Stan
Anonymous, I not only attended Sangamon for 5 years as a camper and junior counselor, but I was a Lower School student at St. Albans for 5 years myself, so we probably know each other. I also went on most of Larry's weekend ski trips and several of his spring vacation ski trips to Vermont.
I was also there at Lower School Prize Day in 1970 when Larry took "early retirement" and was given his service award despite being one year shy. (Skeeter, who posted above, was another student at StA and a veteran Sangamon counselor, who now heads an Episcopal middle school himself.) There were rumors all through my StA years about Larry's tendencies that coalesced into speculation about the reason for his retirement, as I recall. Yours is the first time I have ever heard of a direct accusation from an actual victim, though.
I do not mean in any way to deny or belittle your traumatic experience, or make excuses for Larry's personal weaknesses. It's just that nobody I knew at school or in camp ever experienced actual sexual molestation -- or at least spoke to me about it. So all I have known of until now are the whispers we all remember, and snickered at, to beware of "Larry the Mo". Now, it's possible that I was sheltered, and that where there's smoke there's fire, but it has been my assumption that with all the time I spent in his orbit at a vulnerable age I would have heard or even experienced something more substantive by now if anything truly scandalous had actually occurred.
I didn't want to use my blog to publicize and perpetuate decades-old deprecatory rumors of possible criminal behavior that I have heard but cannot myself confirm -- especially when the man's faults, whatever they may have been, were mitigated by genuine good that he did for a whole generation of kids at his camp. I would certainly expect that, if the Vermont authorities had had strong enough evidence, they would indeed have seen that he "did time". They did not, so that accusation at least is untrue. And it was that accusation in particular that I was rebutting.
Same reply goes to Stan, too, if you are not the same person as "Anonymous", although I imagine you probably are. I have enabled comment moderation on this blog but do not check it frequently; I found the "Anonymous" post and replied to it first.
Larry Smith tried to mo me up in his cabin house atop of the hill at Sangamon in the early '70s. He was dry humping me on his bunk, a naive 10 or 11 year old at the time when a year older kid named Josh from CT. saved my ass by calling me out of the cabin. The rumors were true. Thanks Josh!
Amen Duffy. Too many kids were too scared or ashamed to come forward, or when they did it was hushed up, and thus a pedophile was allowed to exist among boys for years and years....
Hi,
I have been looking for some other victims for YEARS and I am trembling as I write this. Larry created a heaven on Earth in Sangamon.. I went for 4 wonderful summers... and would have gone more had he not molested me twice in the summer of 1974. He molested me. He stuck his finger in my behind with vaseline. He made it all seem like part of the "natural fun" of men and boys in the woods. I am beyond livid. and still going through therapy to untie the knots in my psyche that he made.
Let em be clear.. Sangamon is perfection, Larry was deeply flawed and committed a horrendous crime, unfortunately. If you do doubt my sincerity, I and my therapist placed a report with the state of Vermont back in the 90's. I am so sorry this has to be a blot on the reputation of the Camp which certainly deserves better.
Duffy... omg.. he did the dry humping thing to me too! it was so weird.. I had blacked out and when I came to, it was happening and I couldn't understand it and I thought, "Well at least I'm still wearing my bathing suit!" Then later it got worse.
He'd come around at the time we changed from bathing suits to clothes and sit us on his lap pretending to be fatherly while he rubbed out bodies, dipping below the waistline.
fausto,
a couple points..
The Vermont authorities told me they had no prior reports and so could not take action until one more came in and when I mentioned his rumored conviction (another camper told me about that at college in 1982) they told me they did not have the resources to look it up.
This was all before the Catholic church thing made us all pay more attention to molestations.
and, molesters work very hard at hiding what they do from the people around them. They are very good at deflecting and only choose victims they are fairly sure they can convince to not squeal.. there's a lot of literature one can read on this.
and.. Skeeter... you were the coolest man I had ever seen when I was there... Your performances as the Native American shaman spitting fire at the fire ceremonies were AMAZING! and will always be remembered. I still hold the wonder and belief in ritual I got from those, thanks.
Anonymous, Ben, Duffy, Stanley: I just found out that some of your recent comments had been awaiting moderation, and allowed them all. Sorry for the delay.
What I remember of Larry's trouble with the Vermont authorities was that a report was made, but (according to scuttlebutt at the time) the case was not very strong, so in a plea bargain he was allowed to plead no contest on the condition that he step down from managing the camp for three years. During that time it was managed by Bud Warriner and Ernie Bareham, I think (it was after my time there). I am guessing the files would be expunged or sealed after the fact if he maintained good behavior during that time, which might be why there is nothing on record today.
More recently, my brother and I (and Skeeter, and the Buzzells, and others) have sent our kids to Sangamon and BC (my niece is there right now). I am pleased to report that they have preserved many of the fun and character-building qualities that some of us, who did not share your devastating (and I think atypical, no matter how real and horrifying for you) experiences, still remember fondly.
I see that some of you would like to be able to share your unfortunate experiences with each other, but this is a difficult conversation to hold in a public forum like this one. If any of you wants to continue talking to each other offline, you can get my email address through my Blogger.com profile. Email me with a recognizable camp codeword in the caption (so I know it's not spam) and I will forward your email address to anyone else who responds.
Fausto,
Thank you for your compassion, understanding and generosity. Just typing my posts releived me in ways 20 yeas of work in therapy had never yet done. I am truly freer for your allowing me to say my peace here. Thank you.
I am so glad Sangamon retains the character building parts. For me, the best of it was the connection to the nature of Vermont, the freedom to go on, and invent adventures in nature, and the deeply satisfying experiences of ritual. By ritual I mean everything from large bonfires and Native American(esque) ceremony to small ones like daily swimming, sleeping under the stars, singing all together at meals, and the Saturday scavenger hunts we had. These really instilled a peaceful goodness in me.
fausto, I'm having trouble locating your email address on the blog profile. If any others desire to have contact about larry as discussed above, they can feel free to contact me at ekata@aol.com.
I always wondered if what Larry Smith did at Sangamon was reported or not. I saw him molest, he tried to with me, there is no doubt that some kids came out of there traumatized.
Fausto, I would be interested in making contact with other victims of Larry Smith, as he molested me on one of his ski trips to Sangamon. I was also a summer camper and student at St. Albans.
I do not know if anyone on here can help me out but I was at Sangamon in the early 60's and although not dramaticly invasive, I was indeed inappropriately touched by Larry many times over at least one summer.
Overall I LOVED Sangamon and most of the staff. I am sure Larry did a lot for many. And, it is critical for those who were damaged by him to honor that too. I am not familiar with blogging much but I would appreciate it if I could be put in touch with folks who want to be in a healing, non-blaming discussion about all this.
Thanks
PS I am not familiar with the "choose identity" part of blogging so I chose anonymous although I am not needing to be
Yes Larry was a pedophile. I was there for four years (64-68) and it was common knowledge. You just had to avoid getting into his arms. He was never forceful. It took me years to tell my mother. I have wonderful memories of Sangamon, it was simple, just avoid Larry.
This is fascinating to read. I have wondered what happened to Larry. I too loved the camp, and have memories of him touching me . He found that I had a bathing suit rash, and rubbed some lotion on it. Thats all. I do of course remember the rumors, and I was trying to figure out my fledgling sexuality at the time. My memories of Larry are still fond ones. When was I there???? four summers.... 1966-69?? I'd love to talk to other campers who were there around that time.
Hi Anonymous, we must have overlapped. I wonder who you are. I was there at the end of the sixties. I think from 1966 on.
I haven't been active on this blog in a while, but I updated my profile if anyone still wants to contact me about Sangamon (or StA) experiences. Didn't realize that email addresses are not ordinarily displayed.
Exactly..."just aovid Larry" That was the credo of Sangamon. Those who want to deny it, and those who say they didn't experience it are ready to believe a woman on television about Harvey Weinstein or Donald Trump, but when we say Larry was a pedophile....well..there were rumors is the answer.
Fausto, it's amazing that you started an innocent blog about a lovely camp and have found yourself curating a survivors' meeting place. Thank you again for helping. Since I posted some years ago now, two other survivors have gotten in touch with me. Anyone who Larry Smith did this to is welcome to get in touch. I'll be happy to listen. Ekata@aol.com
Here's another update that may be of interest to some of you. I received this email yesterday:
To Our Cathedral Close Community,
Nothing is more important to our community on the Cathedral Close than the protection and well-being of our children. At Washington National Cathedral, Beauvoir, National Cathedral School and St. Albans, the safety of the children entrusted to our care is our moral responsibility. It is, and always will be, our highest priority.
Although we are confident that the protections in place today provide a safe environment for all children on the Close, whether students, choristers, acolytes or visitors, we acknowledge instances of sexual abuse in our past that must continue to drive us to review our policies and procedures. Similar to the approach being taken by other institutions throughout the nation, and to ensure that we have the best standards for safeguarding children, all four Close institutions are undertaking a comprehensive and independent investigation of any reports of past cases of sexual misconduct between adults and children at our institutions. Let us be clear: This initiative has not been prompted by reports of any current problem or misconduct involving adults and children at any of our schools or Washington National Cathedral.
To ensure an independent process, we have enlisted the help of Debevoise & Plimpton, experienced investigators who began work with St. Albans (as described in a letter to the St. Albans community) after the school received reports from alumni about past misconduct by former employees. The thoroughness of the Debevoise independent investigation depends, in part, on your help. If you or anyone you know has information about past adult-child sexual misconduct at any of our institutions, please contact the lead Debevoise investigator, Mary Beth Hogan, at mbhogan@debevoise.com or (212) 909-6996. As experts in this field, Ms. Hogan and her team will make every effort to protect your privacy and maintain confidentiality of information shared.
Our hope is that through this investigation, we will be able to listen to anyone affected, to offer pastoral support, and to help with healing where possible. Every allegation will be taken seriously and reported to law enforcement, where appropriate. Because we recognize the sensitivity and pain associated with such cases, we have attached contact information for counselors of each institution who are available to speak with you.
Currently, the employees in our institutions undergo regular child-protection training on maintaining healthy and appropriate boundaries with children, identifying signs of child abuse, and immediate steps to take when abuse is suspected. Our current policies also require a background check for every new hire, followed up with repeat background checks every five years. Through this investigation, we hope to learn whether additional protections should be implemented to maintain the safety of our children, ensuring consistency across all institutions on the Close.
Debevoise will be reporting its findings to us and the Close leadership, and we expect to update the community by this summer.
We thank you in advance for your support and patience through this process. We pray for God’s guidance and wisdom as we engage in this important work ahead.
Sincerely,
The Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith
Dean, Washington National Cathedral
Andrew C. Florance
Chair, Cathedral Chapter
Cindi Gibbs-Wilborn
Head of School, Beauvoir
William J. Kappaz
Chair, Beauvoir Governing Board
Kathleen O’Neill Jamieson
Head of School, National Cathedral School
Alice Hill
Chair, NCS Governing Board
Jason Robinson
Headmaster, St. Albans School
Robert Musslewhite
Chair, St. Albans Governing Board
If you were a victim, or if you know firsthand of an incident involving someone else, please get in touch with Mary Beth Hogan as the letter requests.
Another email I received:
Dear St. Albans Community:
...
In August, I sent a letter to the community in response to an article in The Washington Post that described a pattern of alleged sexual misconduct between faculty and students at Key School in Annapolis, Maryland, during the 1970s. One of the teachers implicated in these allegations was Vaughn Keith, who subsequently taught at St. Albans in the 1980s before his death at age 40 in 1990.
...
At our best, we have given our students an experience that reflects the highest principles of our mission. But in the months since August, I have also heard about past incidents when we seem to have fallen short of the school we aspire to be, including firsthand accounts of inappropriate behavior and sexual misconduct by former St. Albans teachers.
...
It is in this spirit that I am writing to you again today with Mr. Musslewhite to announce that the Governing Board of the school has retained experienced investigators from an outside law firm — Debevoise & Plimpton — to assist us with the process we began in my August letter.
...
Mary Beth Hogan, an expert in this area and co-chair of Debevoise’s Litigation Department, and Bruce E. Yannett, deputy presiding partner of the firm, will lead the investigation. Ms. Hogan and Mr. Yannett are recognized for bringing wisdom, integrity, compassion, and sensitivity to their work. Their mandate is to conduct a comprehensive and impartial review, without influence or interference from school administrators, faculty, or staff. The scope of their review will be to investigate any allegation of past adult-student sexual misconduct.
...
As committed as we are to improving our culture and policies as they relate to student misconduct, the independent review conducted by Debevoise will have a distinct scope and purpose, focused on allegations of past adult-student sexual misconduct. Debevoise will report their findings to the Governing Board, and we will then provide the community with an update. The length of time for the review varies from school to school, but our hope and expectation is that we would be able to provide a substantive update to the community by the end of the academic year. ... And we want to make sure those who have or do come forward feel supported, empowered, valued, and honored throughout this process. This includes alumni....
I as Headmaster want to be available and accessible to anyone who wishes to speak with me. I welcome the opportunity to connect with you and promise you will be treated with dignity and compassion. You may contact me at jrobinson@stalbansschool.org or at 202-537-6430.
We also want to provide other avenues for individuals to come forward. To this end, you may contact the individuals overseeing the independent review directly: Mary Beth Hogan (mbhogan@debevoise.com, 212-909-6996) or Bruce Yannett (beyannett@debevoise.com, 212-909-6495). They will make every effort to protect your privacy and maintain confidentiality of information shared.
Our chaplains, the Rev. Brooks Hundley (bfhundley@stalbansschool.org, 202-537-5795), and the Rev. Leslie Chadwick (lchadwick@stalbansschool.org, 202-537-6463), and psychologists, Dr. Joseph Viola (jviola@stalbansschool.org, 202-537-6404) and Dr. Carrie Friend (cfriend@stalbansschool.org, 202-537-5590), are always available to speak as well.
...
We thank you for your support during this important process and for your enduring faith in the promise of our school.
Robert Musslewhite
Governing Board Chair
Jason F. Robinson
Headmaster
St. Albans released and the Washington Post did a story on (another one coming soon as well) Larry and other teachers. The Larry section starts at teh bottom of page 4, all page 5, to page 6.
http://pecffindings.org/summary-findings-letters/#summary-findings
As always, feel free to get in touch if you want to talk.
Ben '70-'74
ekata@aol.com
I'm sure you have now seen the report. Undoubtedly, we know each other.
At long last, after 45 years and never ever having expected any justice, the name of Larry Smith has finally been reported publicly, by the St. Albans investigatory team and by the Washington Post reporting on the investigation and report. I feel like a curse has been broken. I feel more like myself than I have felt in decades, like a lost sense of self has finally been restored. Thank you very sincerely to this blog and you guys who participated and to fausto for allowing us this place to process what happened to us.
Again, if you want some one to talk with about your experience; I can be contacted at ekata@aol.com
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/some-men-identified-in-washington-national-cathedral-report-on-sexual-misconduct-were-criminally-charged-in-other-cases/2019/06/28/f8766d1c-99a0-11e9-b503-8e101553431a_story.html?utm_term=.2680ac120663#click=https://t.co/PIzhDLfsCM
Hi all, I haven't revisited this page in a while and I see that there was a backlog of comments awaiting moderation. I've posted them and apologize for the delay. I am especially grateful if I have been able to be of help in any small way to anyone who was traumatized in those days. To me Larry seemed a little overly friendly, and of course the rumors were always rampant, but he stayed within boundaries around me, perhaps because my mother was Assistant Principal at Beauvoir at the time and could have made a lot of trouble if she had known. If you want to continue the conversation with me offline you can email me at scott [dot] mcisaac [at] verizon [dot] net (and from my email address you can probably figure out who I am).
Hi People of this blog,
I'm a current member of the Sangamon community. Had it not been for the pandemic, I would have been an Intern this year. I guess it isn't that much of a surprise that they don't want to address this, but I'm still a little bit shocked hearing about all of it.
Did this happen under Jed's Watch? He wrote me a letter of reccomendation, but I don't know if I could look at him the same way if I knew he allowed this to happen...
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