Adapt. Because resistance is futile.

There is a common saying that the only constant in the universe is change.  Obviously that is a slight exageration but you get the idea.

This summer I am working on staff at Camp Arrah Wanna, one of my favorite places in the world.  At Camp, as in most things ministry-related, one must always be aware that no matter how much you plan something will happen to change things up.  It kind of seems like here at Camp this happens at a macroscopic level.

Today, like pretty much all days, started out scheduled and planned out.  It didn't take long for it to become apparent that things were not going to be rose-colored-glasses perfect.

Our guest group had a river rafting trip planned miles away.  They also had a big 4th of July pool party planned for the evening.  In order to avoid nasty algae outbreaks in the pool all people and things exposed to outside water sources must be laundered or showered.  This meant we needed to have our laundry room clear and ready to go as soon as the guests returned from rafting as we were looking at laundry for 40+ people.

Right away after breakfast the bus the guest group reserved to pick them up cancelled on them.  They were sent scrambling to find transportation and we were all left preparing for a scenario in which they would not be leaving Camp for the day...requiring meals, activities and a whole other agenda for us all.

Fortunately they secured another bus and were able to head off to at least get a half-day rafting trip in.  Meanwhile, we worked to get our daily chores and cleaning done.  We had a bit of an interruption due to a tractor issue which required us all to pitch in to haul and put together some benches.  Overall the day ran smooth... 

Until it was nearing time for the group to get back from rafting.  They were late.  And every communication we received added another hour to the delay.  All the other evening activities were pushed back, or cancelled, and our time to get over eight loads of laundry done was reduced to one hour.

This is not really meant as a complaint, just trying to set the scene for how crazy chaotic the day was.  Overall everybody here, both our staff and the guest group people, worked our bums off today and operated as much like a well-oiled machine as we could, given the circumstances.  It IS Camp and there are guaranteed to be plenty of worse days ahead!  But, today, we all jumped in and gave it our best and did a dang good job.

As I was in the midst of doing laundry all day long and communicating with others about the constant changing plan for the rest of the day, I had a little bit of a thought on all of this.

I was thinking about how crucial it is to be adaptable.  You just never know when circumstances out of your control are going to spiral your plans into chaos.  No matter how much you plan for such eventualities something will sneak up and surprise you.

In "Star Trek" there are some great villains called the Borg.  They are half humanoid and half cybernetic beings who live and function in one Collective hive-mind.  The Borg spend their existence assimilating everyone and everything into their Collective, making every individual into a drone of the hive-mind.  The entire purpose and essence of the Borg is to absorb everything into the Collective.  In order to accomplish this they are constantly in conflict with other beings and the galaxy itself.

The Borg are masters at ADAPTING.  Within moments of a phaser blast hitting their ship their technology has adapted and is able to repel the blast.  Their hive-mind finds solutions quicker than any individual possibly can.  They adapt the minds and technologies of entire worlds into their own, assimilating vast amounts of knowledge and abilities.

The Borg are one of the most dreaded species across the galaxy.  Their very name is the thing of nightmares, their presence sends most everyone fleeing in all directions.  The Borg are extremely successful at meeting their goals, conquering and assimilating other individuals and cultures into the Collective.

The Borg are successful because they are constantly adapting.  We can learn a thing or two from the Borg.  If we do not allow ourselves to be adaptable to change then we risk being unable to withstand the onslaught of changes to our daily routines and life itself that are bound to come our way.

If the inevitability of change is truly the one thing that never changes, then it benefits us to be ready to dance the dance, to be in constant step with the changes as they roll toward us, much as the player of the arcade video game "Just Dance" constantly keeps their feet moving to touch the always moving spots on the light-up board they dance upon.

We will never be able to fully control our circumstances or prevent things from not going according to plan.  But we can choose be flexible and stay positive, to roll with the punches, and choose to adapt as we go.  Ultimately we have no choice but to adapt.  Resistance, as the Borg say, is futile.