Continuing with a theme (since my analysis is still running), we move on to my scout book. Its not so much a book now as both the front and back cover are “missing”, but I did keep the front cover inside the book. I remember Scouts (as opposed to Cub Scouts) as a thing because none of my friends continued. There were no troops near our house, and I had to get a ride past downtown from my parents, pretty much every week until I could drive.
This book is actually called the Official Boy Scout Handbook and is a how to for a whole lot of outdoors adventures. If I had been a father of at least one boy instead of two wonderful girls, I would have been as much into scouting as my son could stand. I have always been surprised how I do not miss scouting, but I chalk that up to God wiring me to be the dad the girls needed.
Although I was not the perfect scout, I did get my Eagle Scout Award (on the last possible day). A seven-year journey that seemed full speed until it almost ended over a very long holding period. This was my transition from achiever to something more. I have always been proud of getting my Eagle Scout award not only for all the work that went into it, but for the fact that I came back and finished it after a time away.
When I think of Scouts, three things generally pop into my head. 1) The old Scout Master who retired before my time, but still took enough time to engage with me. I went to see him a lot when I went back to San Angelo when younger. 2) The National Jamboree and our trip to Washington DC. 3) And the World Jamboree and our trip to Calgary.
The church I grew up in was the sponsor of our troop and had been since its inception. I always felt our troop was the best, partly due to my affinity for my church and partly due to how old it was. One of our scout masters was in my mom’s Sunday school class and his influence on me was grand, from the horror of seeing him fall over a dam to the joy of seeing him at my mom’s funeral. I never really thought of him as a father, but he sure treated me like a son.
The analysis is long over, but I feel like I have only scratched the surface in remembering all that happened to me in scouts. Through it all, I knew God was there watching over me every step. From overcoming fears to health scares, from being a little boy to have some slight resemblance to a gentleman, scouting was the process I went through to grow, to grow to be the Christian I am, rooted in the spiritual, but functioning in the physical. I probably have the temperament to be a monk hiding from the world studying the scriptures to be prepared for some distant need to know some barely relevant bit from the Word of God. I credit the influence of scouts and my church on making me a fully functioning part of my community. Now if Buck will just let the Eagle Scout Knife I want back onto the market, my scouting world might be complete.
June 22, 2022