Doing the Unexpected

When I was in Poland, I visited Auschwitz, the famous Nazi extermination camp. I’m sure life in the barracks was pretty grim during the war, but now they are pretty clean. In fact, they are cleaner than the cabin my campers inhabited at Camp Cherith.

Twice each week, there was a camp inspection of the cabins. The winning cabin got something like ice cream.

As the day approached, my guys, who were the in the oldest group, started boasting, “Every year, the oldest group gets the award for the worst cabin.” I asked them, “What’s so great about that?” They told me that it was an age-old tradition.

I asked them, “In life, do you want to be known for doing the expected or the unexpected?” They asked me what I meant. I told them that by keeping the age-old tradition they wouldn’t be doing anything that special. They would be just like every other camper who had passed along the way. There was nothing exciting about that. If they decided they were going to win the cleanest cabin award, then they would be doing something that hadn’t been done before.

I also suggested that they could have lots of fun by doing things well beyond what was expected. They decided to accept my challenge.

Camp Cherith is a Christian camp, so they had Bibles opened up on their pillows. A welcome mat was made with a note greeting all guests. Wild flowers were picked and put in pop bottles throughout the cabin. And, of course, the cabin was spotless. All clothing had been put away neatly. Everything was in order.

We trounced the opposition. History was made at Camp Cherith. The oldest group had won the award for the cleanest cabin.

On the second inspection of the week, we decided to go one better. We left little bits of chocolate on our pillows. We came dead last this time. Why? Because of the risk of wild animals invading the cabins, food is forbidden. I was the one who came up with this brilliant idea, but my only excuse is that I am the worst camper in the world. My punishment was having to sing “I’m A Little Teapot” in front of everyone.

Still the point had been made. In life, you can do what is expected or you can choose to do the unexpected. You can choose to be followers of tradition or leaders who shape the future. You can choose to walk down the path many have followed or blaze a new trail. My campers broke the mold and chose the second option.