Scoutmaster Moments

These are a collection of Scoutmaster Moments (I can’t always keep it to a Minute) that I’ve delivered to my troop and crew at various times.

July 10th, 2008

This scoutmaster moment will be delivered our first night out on our way to Philmont

Over the last number of months, we’ve talked a lot about the different ways our trek at Philmont can fail.  We did this to help us do our best to be prepared.  We’ve made a lot of progress getting prepared, so while the reasons for concern aren’t gone, we’ve reduced their likelihood of happening.  There are still many hurdles that stand between us today and the descent from the Tooth of Time August 4th.  I am now going to share with you the most important information needed for us to successfully cross those hurdles and complete the trek.

I’d like you to all gather up in a circle and place your hands on top of each other’s in the middle. [pause to gather up] You’ll notice we now resemble a bike wheel and spokes.  If you’ve ever worked on a bike wheel, you’ll know that loosening and removing a spoke increases the likelihood that once side of the wheel will bend out of shape and as a result cause a flat.  That’s because on its own, the metal of the wheel rim is not strong enough to stand the force of a rider.  But if every spoke pulls equally and together, the wheel stays true and the tire stays inflated.

We will only make this trek if we all pull equally and together throughout this trek.  Individuals or small groups who run ahead or loligag behind weaken the wheel and threaten it’s stability.  Members of the crew who choose to not pitch in when everyone’s tired and would rather not can easily cause a flat that will threaten the success of all.  Many of those threats to success we’ve talked about in the past boil down to individuals not doing their part to be a supporting spoke.

So as we stand in this circle, hands in the middle, I ask you now to recommit yourself to the cause of the crew and the success of the trek.  Are you with us?  ARE YOU WITH US?

July 4th, 2008

I’m reading a fiction book that is set during the Revolutionary War and it got me to thinking again about just what it took to give us our freedoms. Then I watched The Patriot with Mel Gibson and it got me thinking even more.

Imagine a day in that army or state militia. It’s now 6 months after the thrill that came from the signing and distribution of the Declaration of Independence. There’s been a few exciting victories against the British regulars, and many more defeats. Only about 40% of those around the colonies even think this is a good idea — most are either indifferent or strongly opposed. You’re tired, worried about your family back home, and have had to deal with deaths of many of those who had started fighting beside you. You don’t always get to eat three times a day, and when you do get to eat, the food looks as much like it’s been dug out of the garbage as anything else. The meat’s tough, smelly, and gritty with dirt. When you get paid, it’s with paper that many consider little more than wadding for your muskets. And it’s cold! Your clothes have been sewn and patched and don’t do much to keep that cold out. You wrap rags around your boots to try to keep the cold out, but it doesn’t work all that well. You get damp and stay damp, making the cold all that much worse. In all, it seems pretty unlikely you’ll win, and it’s hard to imagine what could be worth all of this misery, suffering, and death.

Then a small document is passed around camp, written by Thomas Paine. The beginning lines really catch your attention:

“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”

It is our great fortune today that enough soldiers decided, those January months in 1977, to stand by our country and not be a sunshine patriot. We take so much for granted, the freedom to say what we believe without fear of arrest, the right to worship as we see fit, the right to protect ourselves, the right to gather as we see fit. It’s not always perfect, but compared to so much of the rest of the world, it’s so remarkable. Other wars have been fought since to continue the assurance of those freedoms. And every time real people, with real families, have made major, sometimes ultimate, sacrifices. But even those who return without a single physical wound carry with them internal scars that those of us who have never gone through such can truly understand.

Today is the fourth of July. We celebrate those freedoms we enjoy, and we should also remember those who have given so much for those freedoms. That is proper and good. But a few cheers given as soldiers march by in a parade should only be the start. Freedoms left idle are freedoms wasted. Wasted freedoms are a slap in the face of every single individual who sacrificed so much to secure those freedoms. If we truly want to say thanks, we must step forward and use those freedoms, and use them in ways that further to build an even better future for those who follow us.

Troop and Crew 314, if you truly want to say thank you for the sacrifices made to bring about our freedoms, remember the oath you each took. “On My Honor” … “Duty to God” … “Duty to Country” … “Help Other People at All Times”. I would call you today to consider those words carefully. Thank God we are not all required to fight in wars. Thank God so many of the real world problems faced today are not ones that a military can resolve. Let me be clear that for those for which their duty calls them in that direction, I thank God. But for those of us who are not called to serve in our country’s military, we should not think we are let off the hook. If we look around us and see the tyranny that still exists, if we look and see that so many men (and women) are still not truly treated as equal in our country, let alone in other places around the world; when we see that for lack of food, shelter, and basic necessities of life, most of the world cannot pursue their unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness; we should realize that “THESE are (still) the times that try men’s souls”.

When you each pledged your honor to do your duty, was it as sunshine patriots? Or was it as one who will stand by your country and the ideals upon which our country was founded, which scouting highlights, and which an Eagle scout internalizes? How will you say thank you in the coming 12 months to those who have sacrificed so greatly to give you your freedoms?

May God bless our troop, our crew, our church, and our country, and may He inspire us to live out our Oath and Law in ways that are truly remarkable in this, the 236 year of our country and our freedoms!