Cabin Chat in Algonquin

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I was lucky to lead an evening cabin chat this week with Algonquin 1, our youngest boys cabin. Niall and Jesse are the counselors, and Farrahka is the CIT grad. It's an energetic group of boys, so as you can imagine there was a little bit of running around involved in getting ready for bed. Things quieted down quickly, though, and soon enough the candle was lit and we were ready to go. I used a favorite topic: If you could have one wish for yourself (not including wishing for more wishes), what would you wish for? Going around the circle the boys offered a number of thoughtful answers... a couple of them wished for nice houses for their families, or to never have to worry about money. A few wished for an end to hunger and war. One wished for clean water for everyone in the world, and another for medicine for everyone who's sick. It's encouraging to hear that even our youngest campers think about changing these things. Camp is a good place to learn about caring for others.

I followed up with a second question: If you could give one wish to anyone, who would you give it to? Again, the answers were striking. Several wanted to give their wishes to President Obama. Others wanted to give theirs to their parents. One wanted to give theirs to a scientist for curing cancer, and another wanted to give theirs to someone who could do something for homeless people. All of these quiet wishes, thoughtfully offered while sitting around a candle, showed the best nature of these young men. It was a privilege to share that time with them.

It's true we spend the largest part of our days here running, playing, and laughing together. We move around a lot, and are noisy while we do it. But camp is also a place for reflection, away from the distractions of television, video games, and busy schedules. And when I think about ways we can change the world - with wishes, or without - I can't imagine one better than sending young people who care about change out into it.

See you around the flag pole!