Cedars, February 2018

February 2018 12 ART & ENTERTAINMENT The Seen and the Unseen Cameron Clark finds Christ in his search for spiritual truth in the midst of worldly struggles by Katie Milligan C ameron Clark has always committed himself to the search for truth. De- spite coming form a Christian home, he explored various spiritualities for years before rediscovering that true authenticity can only be found in Christ. A junior transfer student at Cedarville University, Clark is a biblical studies major on track for a master of divinity degree. Born and raised in Centerville, Ohio, Clark asked Jesus into his heart at four years old. He then attended church with his family through his elementary and middle school years. When Clark was a freshman in high school, he left to attend a summer intensive ballet and modern dance program at the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts in Tor- rington, Connecticut, 12 hours away from home. He lived there through junior year of high school and then transferred to Pitts- burgh Ballet Theater for his senior year. Since he did not get connected to a local church, Clark said he identifies this move as the catalyst for his journey away from Christ. “I still consideredmyself a Christian, but I didn’t take sin seriously at all,” Clark said. By the time he was a senior in high school, he had grown comfortable with al- cohol and marijuana. “I allowed myself to be deceived, and eventually those things took control,” Clark said. “I thought that drugs were better be- cause they made me feel good. I began to be attracted to other worldviews and spiritual things that justified my choice.” After graduating from high school, Clark attended Butler University for two years to pursue an arts administration and dance degree. However, he said he quickly burnt out and shifted his focus away from dance, deciding to transfer to Miami Uni- versity at Oxford, where his focus became network marketing. During Clark’s second semester at Mi- ami, he began to experiment with various spiritualities. He visited a pagan crystal shop, which sparked his interest in the New Age movement. “The premise or basis of the New Age is that the world is going through an ascension process by each human realizing themself as a god and becoming enlightened,” Clark explained. He considered himself a pantheist, someone who believes that everything in the universe is God, and that God is expressed in everything in the universe. By the end of that school year, Clark had become unintentionally immersed in the New Age witchcraft culture, and dropped out of Miami. He spent some time dancing for a professional modern dance company in West Virginia before going on the road. He traveled for two years, seeking spir- itual fulfillment in all the wrong places, he said. During this time, his drug use became more frequent and serious, as he began ex- perimenting with psychedelics such as LSD. He said the frantic search for drugs con- trolled him, as he believed it was the way to achieve enlightenment. During his travels, Clark collected sev- eral tattoos; all carry a dark symbolism. For example, the familiar peace sign on his right hand, the same one that became popular during the 1960s at Woodstock and is still common today, is actually a depiction of the magic symbol called the crow’s foot. The three-dimensional image on his left forearm is a representation of the demonic god Baal. The 2D symbol is commonly called The Star of David today. In the future, Clark hopes to cover his tattoos with ones that better describe what he now stands for. “Who I am now wouldn’t get tattoos unless they were Christian-themed or were going to be effective for ministry,” he said. After two years of pursuing worldly passions and otherworldly agendas, Clark realized that his situation was dire; he had been suffering from severe depression, anx- iety and paranoia, he said. The deeper his involvement in New Age philosophy be- came, the more he discovered the manipu- lation that he was under, and his physical condition continued to deteriorate. He called his parents and asked to come home. Clark attributes his recovery to the as- sistance he received from his family. Even when he was rebelling against them, they continued to show him patience and love. “They didn’t push me away, or judge me, or jump down my throat with Biblical anything. They just prayed for me,” Clark said. “People don’t realize how powerful prayer is. [It] literally saved my life.” Upon returning home, Clark quit drugs but continued to practice healing methods Photo by Lauren Jacobs Cameron Clark rediscovered the truth of Christianity after years of following New Age philosophy.