Campfire Talk – Week 5
by Dillon Kuhn (pictured above giving this talk)
Hello everybody, my name is Dillon Kuhn, and I am a second year here on god squad. I am an incoming junior at Iowa State University – Ames campus, and I am studying environmental science.
I want to talk to you all today about the importance of being yourself and why camp is the perfect place to explore who you truly are.
I have noticed more than usual this week that campers are always asking me why I feel the need to be shouting at the top of my lungs during activities. Whether it is singing songs at bible study, announcing breakfast themes that don’t really make any sense, rambling on about oh snap pickles from the canteen window, or playing games in the field of life, I am usually yelling in excitement.
Now, this may be hard to believe, but I have not always been the loudest or most energetic person. Growing up, I was generally a quieter kid. I had a tight knit group of friends from school and baseball, and I was really only talkative and myself around them.
While not all of you were here for Sarah’s talk on Sunday night, she talked about making up rules in your head that would hold you back from being your honest self. For example, there is no rule that says you can’t wear certain clothes or act a particular way yet, we often put barriers in front of us because we want others to think a certain way about us.
In my case, I always thought that there was no reason to be as loud as I wanted to, because that’s just not who I was. I felt that since I was usually someone who kept to themselves, there was no reason for me to be the loudest person in the room.
The catalyst for my wild energy and loud personality came from nothing other than here at spirit in the pines. I first started coming here when I was in third grade and have been coming back each summer since then.
Spirit in the pines was the first environment I had ever been in where I felt like I could be my true self.
Something that makes camp special than any other place on earth is the lack of judgement from each individual here. Whether it is bringing back a dead joke like 67, asking questions about your faith that you had never thought of before, or trying something brand new, your friends and counselors are never there to judge you, but to enjoy your authentic, goofy self.
As you finish your week and head home, I encourage all of you to be your authentic self and forget about the “rules” you make up for yourself. In psalm chapter 139, verse 14, we are reminded that we are made, uniquely and beautifully in God’s image emphasizing that everything about our design is deliberate and precious.
