Pam Shellberg remembers struggling with her spirituality when she first came to work at Horizons. “I felt like an imposter,” she said. “I was deeply troubled about what I believed and didn’t believe. I grew up in the church, but had just graduated college and was a borderline atheist. That college knowledge had me questioning how logical thinking people could believe in a God.” That conflict in her, she shared, felt like a major problem in her role as Program Director at a faith based camp.
“Duane held space for that,” Pam said gratefully, but the internal battle weighed on her. Pam felt troubled about how to share Horizons’ mission of God, self, others, and nature without always falling back on “church” language. “So many of the kids who come to camp don’t go to church, and that language just didn’t feel right,” Pam said. “Then I had a very serious and profound spiritual moment at camp,” Pam told a story about an afternoon sitting by herself on Main Cliff. She said, “I was just looking over the valley, while the lawyers in my head were arguing when all of a sudden I heard ‘Be still and know that I am God.’” Pam said that she felt a great peace come over her, and she realized she did not need to argue her way out. She realized she just needed to be still and know it to be true. “That moment and this land is healing,” Pam said. “The land itself is a source of knowledge, and I have carried that with me every day since that happened.”
Pam looks back at that experience as the turning point in her spiritual life. As life comes full circle, she finds herself again connected to the power of the land in her position as Director of Spiritual Nourishment at Holy Wisdom Monastery.
We are excited and grateful that Pam joined our Board of Directors in 2022 to be that spiritual guide, ensuring that future generations find stillness and connection to nature and faith at Horizons. Like all those who serve on the board, Pam shares her commitment to connecting all who visit Horizons to the harmonies of God, self, others, and nature.