Why Do I Scout?

[OldGreyEagle]

The Bridge Builder

by Will Allen Dromgoole (1860-1934)

 

 

An old man, going a lone highway,

Came at the evening cold and gray,

To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,

Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim-

That sullen stream had no fears for him;

But he turned, when he reached the other side,

And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,

"You are wasting strength in building here.

Your journey will end with the ending day;

You never again must pass this way.

You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide,

Why build you the bridge at the eventide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head.

"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,

"There followeth after me today

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm that has been naught to me

To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;

Good friend, I am building the bridge for him."

 

Thats why I scout...

 

 

[evmori]

OGE,

Excellent! Thanks for bringing this Scouter back to reality.

 

Ed Mori

Scoutmaster

Troop 1

[sctmom]

Applause, applause.

Thank you OGE.

[tjhammer]

OGE, that's always been one of my favorites. It's a valuable lesson that what we do is for those that follow.

 

One of my other favorites:Author Unknown: I awoke early, as I often did, just before sunrise, to walk by the ocean's edge and greet the new day.

 

As I moved through the morning dawn, I focused on a faint, far away motion.

 

I saw a youth, bending and reaching and flailing arms, dancing on the beach, no doubt in celebration of the perfect day soon to begin.

 

As I approached, I realized that the youth was not dancing to the bay, but rather bending to sift through the debris left by the night's tide, stopping now and then to pick up starfish and then standing, to heave it back into the sea.

 

I asked the youth the purpose of the effort. "The tide has washed the starfish onto the beach and they cannot return to the sea by themselves," the youth replied. "When the sun rises, they will die, unless I throw them back into the sea."

 

As the youth explained, I surveyed the vast expanse of beach, stretching in both directions beyond eyesight. Starfish littered the shore in numbers beyond calculation. The hopelessness of the youth's plan became clear to me and I countered, "But there are more starfish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you cannot expect to make a difference."

 

The youth paused briefly to consider my words, bent to pick up a starfish and threw it as far as possible. Turning to me he simply said,

 

"I made a difference to that ONE."

 

[SCOUTER-Terry]

Excellent thread.

 

TERRY HOWERTON

 

[eagle90]

This has always been one of my favorites - and I re-read it often:

 

We in Scouting have a special advantage. We are privileged to observe the exuberance of youth which almost by osmosis, has a revitalizing effect.

 

Once a SM was asked, "Why do you do it? Why do you spend so much time and effort doing what you do for Scouting? What's in it for you?" This is his reply:

 

You crawl out of your sleeping bag in the cold gray dawn. Maybe it's the first night out and you didn't sleep so well. You're hungry and a fire needs to be built before you can cook breakfast. "WHY?" You say to yourself. "What am I doing out here when I could be home in a soft warm bed?"

 

The sun comes up and begins to warm your back. The boys start piling out of their tents and soon the place is ringing with noise and activities. A fire is started and you sink your teeth into a breakfast three times bigger than you would eat at home. The boys all seem to know what they are doing and are happy. You lean back and survey the results of your time and effort. It gives you a lift. It's better than aspirin. YOU FEEL YOUNG AGAIN!!

 

[Chippewa29]

I was very fortunate to be elected to the OA when I was only 12 1/2. A month after my ordeal, we had an election and I became the chapter secretary-treasurer by default. The chapter chief had been one of my counselors at summer camp the summer before (very fun guy) and took me under his wing. At the first OA Executive Board meeting I went to, the Lodge Chief made a point to come up to me after the meeting to introduce himself and tell me how glad he was I was working with them (I was obviously floored by this). The guy who became Lodge Chief next was also a very fun guy. Something that we always knew with them (as well as most of the guys I knew from the OA) was that although we played hard and had a great time (such as wearing togas with our sashes to the arena shows at NOAC), we worked hard and our first purpose was to serve others. There was never any question as to who they were serving (it was never them or their friends).

 

Those guys helped me realize that the greatest reward in life was the satisfation of knowing that you have helped other people succeed. That knowledge was more important than any medal or other award you can receive. It has helped form the basis of what I do with my life.

 

I stay in Scouting because I hope to impart some of that wisdom with today's youth and inspire them to spend their lives serving others as well. Besides, where else would I get the opportunity to spend weekends out camping without the herds of weekend warriors and go exploring through the woods for an afternoon.