Camp song. For some people, that two-word phrase sums up the song that Ken Shackelford wrote, perhaps during one summer around 1992, in some woods north of Searcy, Arkansas to help focus a group of young people on someone they could not see. He coached them to say “Lord Be There”, because he might have known that these kids needed someone to help them through the rough spots in their still-developing lives. One can imagine that it leapt out of someone’s mouth during a vulnerable moment, maybe around a campfire where honesty and mutual support are offered to anyone who asks for it. No one can hide from the all-seeing eye, but Ken might have said that this omniscience wasn’t a quality to fear, but instead one of an understanding God to whom they could cling in trust.
Ken Shackelford and his wife Tanja have plenty of experience with kids of their own, so therein may be the inspiration for how Ken’s music has been birthed. The ‘SHACKfamily.com’ website indicates that the Shackelfords have eight children, on top of the kids that Ken has met and helped when he was working at Camp Wyldewood in north-central Arkansas for a while. It’s not clear what exact circumstances spurred ‘Lord Be There’, though some of his songs were reportedly written for specific camp themes; other songs were adopted just because they were favorites of the campers, apparently. Kids, probably to include his and his wife’s octet of offspring, have plenty of stumbles that can turn into learning experiences. You can guess this fact-of-life axiom was the subject of camp life on more than one occasion, spawning the title words of the song and those that follow – ‘when I fall’ (soprano and alto parts). While the female parts express an invitation for Him to come into their midst, the young men’s parts (tenor and bass) articulate a confidence that He indeed joins them and is all-sufficient. To sing this as a four-part round also emphasizes the personal acknowledgement that each voice contributes to this prayer-song, saying in effect ‘I have my own mistakes, and each of my friends has the ones they bring to you, God’. While missteps are not episodes anyone relishes, when they are confessed and handed off to Him who can heal, an otherwise noxious scent gives way to fresh harmony – the sound this song transmits to its singers to transform them. That must have been what Ken was after – making these kids appreciate that they need not flee from confession of wrongdoing; instead, own up to being human, and you’ll find others will join in that chorus with you. Not just for kids, by the way, is it?
The message Ken wants to spread doesn’t stop with kids singing ‘Lord Be There’ around a campfire or in a meadow at Camp Wyldewood. The Shackelford clan promotes something called Lumenations, in which stories of Christian disciples are shared to spark more disciples to tell their own stories, and thereby spread the news about how He works in many ways. It’s sort of the theme of ‘Lord Be There’, magnified beyond a campfire group’s reach. I call out to Him for the holy divine presence and intervention in my own situation, but at the same time Lumenations says that I should re-tell the story of how He answers, and how blessed events as a result of an answered prayer pile on top of one another. Imagine ‘Lord Be (ing) There’ in not just one instance, but in an exponential way. That’s God, being who He is. Lord, be there!
See the following site for an explanation of the possible origin of the song: http://theshackfamily.com/wyldewoodsongs
See the following site for info on the author and his family: http://theshackfamily.com/
Another site that the author uses to further the message: https://www.lumenations.org/about
Site for the camp where the author may have written the song: https://www.campwyldewood.org/about-us/vision-mission-core-values
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