By Adam Kaplan
As most of you know, we begin every meal at camp with a sermonette. These are one- or two-sentence snippets of wisdom that come from many different sources. Some come from inspirational leaders and authors throughout history, some are from popular songs, some are lines from movies. To be sure, some of these sermonettes are simply cute and pithy lines meant to give us a smile or a chuckle. But, some of our sermonettes truly help us and serve as guiding principles through the challenges that life throws at us.
As I sat down to write today, like the last time I wrote you all, I had a hard time coming up with the right words. And then I thought about that sermonette box. And while there are many of those cards that inspire me right now, two of them really hit home. Both touch on a similar theme….
The first, is perhaps the most classic sermonette in the box:
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
A big glass of bug juice – er – lemonade.
This quote does not take a great deal of intellectual energy to decipher. The message here is that sometimes we are going to have difficult and unpleasant situations thrust upon us (though….I kinda like lemons!) and when we are faced with these tough moments, we are best off trying to find a way to take that challenge and turn it into something positive. We see this at camp all the time. We see it on rainy days when our planned activities have to be cancelled. Unquestionably that rain is a lemon. And yet, what happens next is amazing. In these moments, our incredible staff huddle together and create some of the most imaginative and fun endeavors that have ever taken place at camp. In the end, we wind up with new and wonderful experiences at camp that simply would never have happened without the delivery of those lemons.
Well, on Tuesday, I delivered a truckload of those lemons to the entire camp family. For our campers and staff, the light at the end of the COVID tunnel was supposed to be a month or two up at camp. For our alumni, Camp Nebagamon being in session was an indication of some stability in a world that seems to be more than a little bit off of its axis right now. Lemons….
But already, I am seeing those lemons being made into lemonade. I have been having Zoom meetings with our campers and have listened to them put a positive spin on this disappointment. They have enthusiastically asked questions and made suggestions about the summer of 2021. They are focused on all of the truly exciting things that will come to camp as a result of our need to postpone camp’s 92nd season. They are excited for 10th grade campers and all of the new and fun opportunities that will present. So too, they are making lemonade right now in their homes. They are finding new hobbies, finding new ways to enjoy the outdoors in their communities, and planning brand new and exciting summer experiences that, frankly, would never have happened if they were at camp this summer. Lemonade…..
Our alumni, concerned about this disequilibrium that has been foisted upon them by the first ever cancellation of a Camp Nebagamon summer, have taken it upon themselves to keep camp alive. They have been connecting with camp friends that they have not seen or spoken to in years. They are sharing camp stories, photos, and experiences with each other on various social media platforms. And they have reached out to camp itself just to offer steadfast support and express their willingness to do whatever it takes to make sure Camp Nebagamon is ok. This renewed connection to the place and to each other would just not have been a thing without these lemons. Lemonade…
To be sure…I am not remotely suggesting that what we are all going through is a good thing. Quite to the contrary, the loss of life, livelihood, freedom, and innocence that this situation has inflicted upon all of us is inexplicably and inescapably horrible and unlike anything any of us have ever experienced. Still…what we do in these situations matters. How we react matters. Making lemonade matters.
The other sermonette that has provided me with metal during this challenging moment is this:
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.
This time is tough. I imagine that for many in our community this “winter” we are all enduring has been overwhelming. The difficulties, disappointments, and challenges that are being thrown at us, at times, seem relentless and insurmountable. And yet, during these times, each of us finds something within ourselves that allows us to weather that storm. We find a strength within ourselves that we had previously not known. And we have the courage to rely on our families, friends, communities, and the camp family to support and nurture that invincible summer. Yes, this will have been a longer winter than we have experienced before (at least on the calendar) but, we all have that invincible summer within us. We have that strength.
And at camp, we know that the most invincible summer of all, 2021, will undoubtedly and triumphantly arrive…because of our conviction and belief in camp, and the strength of the camp community…and through drinking a ton of lemonade.
This is my 25th May as a full time caretaker here at Camp Nebagamon and for the first 24 springs what I described above has been, for the most part, the way this spring has progressed. Early in the month I was again delighted as I watched the flocks of geese flying north toward their summer homes. As the local birds settled down around the area, many of the flocks headed farther north to their summer breeding grounds, passing very far over head in the familiar V pattern, accompanied with the distant “honk, honk” song they sing to each other. This year we were treated to what seemed to be an unusually large number of swan flocks heading to their summer homes. And I had the same thought as every year, “Will this be the year that a pair of them finally decides to make Lake Nebagamon their breeding lake?”
6th – Ben Bernstein