Adviser Minutes

There are sixteen words in the Scout Law. The Law does not say, “A Scout is tall, rich or smart.” Why is that? Because a young person cannot choose to be tall, or rich, or those other things that are beyond their control. However, they do have choices to make. They can choose to listen to you when you are down, to respect your religion, to clean up after themselves, and to keep the crew’s spirits up on the trail. These characteristics are what comprise the Scout Law. When I think about the people who have made a difference in my life, I think about the ones who have made the choice to take the harder path and go above and beyond what others do. The Scout Law is the harder path on the map.

It is your choice. You can choose to be that kind of person.

Robert Louis Stevenson, the famous author of Treasure Island and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde suffered throughout his short life from respiratory illness and he spent many years looking for a climate that would cure him. He died of tuberculosis at the age of forty-four and is buried in Samoa. In spite of his considerable suffering, he had twelve positive attitude tips that he is attributed with that he sought to live by. I would like to share them with each of you. They are still incredibly good rules to live by. Think about how they relate to the twelve rules we seek to live by in Scouting.

1. Make up your mind to be happy; learn to find pleasure in simple things.
2. Make the best of your circumstances. Everyone has problems. The trick is to make laughter outweigh the tears.
3. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Don’t think that somehow you should be protected from misfortunes that befall others.
4. You can’t please everybody. Don’t let criticism worry you.
5. Don’t let your neighbor set your standards. Be yourself.
6. Do the things you enjoy doing, but stay out of debt.
7. Don’t borrow trouble. Imaginary burdens are harder to bear than the actual ones.
8. Hate poisons the soul, so don’t carry grudges. Avoid people who make you unhappy.
9. Have many interests. If you can’t travel, read about new places.
10. Don’t hold post mortems. Don’t spend your life brooding over sorrows and mistakes.
11. Do what you can for those less fortunate than yourself.
12. Keep busy at something. A busy person never has time to be unhappy.

As each of you lives your life, remember his advice. Your attitude toward any given situation you encounter will almost always affect you far more than the situation. Attitude is everything in life.

Some of you probably have outdoor clothing made from Polartech or Polarfleece material. The company that makes these materials is called Malden Mills. The owner of the company is a deeply religious man of the Jewish faith named Aaron Feuerstein. On December 31, 1995 his factory caught fire and burned to the ground. The factory employed 3,400 workers and was the main employer for two neighboring towns. The area once had many mills but most had closed and moved to areas where the factories could pay people less money to work. Mr. Feuerstein felt that people should be paid a decent wage and so he wouldn’t move his factory.

The fire occurred on his seventieth birthday. The workers believed it was the end of the line for their jobs. Surely Mr. Feuerstein would take the $300 million in insurance money and call it quits—right? While the smoke was still rising from the charred remains of the factory, Mr. Feuerstein called his workers together at a school gymnasium and spoke to them. They were about to discover what kind of man they worked for.

He announced that he would not abandon them. He was going to rebuild the factory. He told them that he was keeping all 3,400 of them on the payroll for one month and that each would get a $275 Christmas bonus. Once the factory was rebuilt they would get their jobs back.

Grown men wept in the audience as he spoke. After the first month ended he paid them for another month. After the second month ended he paid them for a third month. He also paid their hospitalization insurance. It cost him $1.5 million dollars a week to do this. His employees responded by salvaging what equipment they could and in temporary buildings got production up to what it was before the fire, while the new factory was being built. Mr. Feuerstein received much praise from around the country but he said he did only what was the moral and right thing to do. He used his money to support his beliefs in God rather than make money his God.

As each of you lives your life, try to remember Mr. Feuerstein’s example and treat people you encounter with fairness and kindness. You will be amazed at how much better you will be treated in return.

At the 1968 Olympics, Bob Beamon set a long jump record that many thought would never be broken. That same year, a young boxer named George Foremen won a gold medal and paraded around the ring with an American flag, instilling pride in many Americans. One athlete named John Stephen Akhwari from Tanzania, a marathon runner, probably made the longest lasting impression on people, though. While he was running, he stumbled and fell, severely injuring his knee and ankle. After receiving first aid he did what no one expected: He got back in the race. Long after everyone else had finished and left, he limped into the near empty stadium to the cheers of a small crowd that was still there and he finished his final lap. When asked why he continued the race after he was so badly hurt with no chance to win he replied: “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race—they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”

Do each of you accept responsibility to finish a task when you start one, or do you take the easy way out when the going gets tough? Do you keep your promises when you make them, even the ones you make to yourself? A person who doesn’t keep their word will not be respected and will not be trusted. What kind of person does each of you want to be remembered as?

The ancient Greek Socrates had an incredible mind and spent his life seeking truth. He was a great teacher of honor and principle and was a genius in the area of rational logic. Socrates once created a functioning government in his mind by using conversation with other people and applying logic with it. These conversations were recorded by one of his students, Plato. The story is called “The Republic” and it is considered one of the masterpieces of human literature. Thomas Jefferson and others used much of it when forming the government of the United States.

Socrates, because he would never lie, made enemies in his home of Athens, Greece. He was brought to trial on trumped up charges, found guilty, and sentenced to die by drinking a poison made from hemlock. Socrates could have left the country and lived, but reasoned that he knew the laws of Athens and still chose to live there and therefore was honor bound to obey those laws and any judgments that came from them. In the end he drank the hemlock at the hour that he was supposed to, and he died.

Socrates lived a life of honor, principle, and truth that few men have equaled. Each of you needs to have a set of principles about right and wrong and a code of honor that helps you live those principles. The Scout Oath and the Scout Law are good places to start. As you lay in your tent at your next outing, think about what principles you should use to guide your life and the decisions you make. Then stick to them as you live your remaining days.

Arrowmen, here’s a little quiz for you: “What’s the most welcome two-word sentence in the English language?” Some of you might say, it’s “We won!” Others would vote for, “Here’s money!” But I think the most welcome two-word sentence is “Thank you.”

It isn’t used as often as it should be. How often do you use it? And how often do you say thank you to the persons who are closest to you: Your mother and father? How often do you say it to your friends or even strangers when they do something for you?

It’s so easy to forget, especially if the Good Turn is done by somebody in your family. Too often we take for granted the many things our parents and other family members do for us. Here’s a challenge for you: See if you can find some reason to say thank you every day to some member of your family. You may be surprised how they will react.

A simple thank you costs nothing, but it means so much to those who matter most to you. And remember, manners make a person and can be the difference between you being just another Arrowman and one who earns respect from those around you.

On July 31, 2007—the last night of the Order of the Arrow’s National Conservation and Leadership Summit—our National Chief gave a speech. In his speech, he related a story about the importance of salt to the human race.

Salt is a major ingredient that is used to season our food. When we use salt to season our food, it usually takes several shakes to spread multiple granules of salt onto the food. Everyone’s tastes are different, so not everyone will require the same amount of salt to provide the added seasoning to satisfy their taste buds.

In the early days, salt was used to preserve foods. Early settlers did not have the convenience of cold storage from refrigerators or freezers as we have today. They would use an abundance of salt to cover their meat to preserve it for later consumption.
Salt can also be used with water to create a mouthwash for sores you may have in your mouth. Simply rinse your mouth out with this salt and water solution to expedite and improve your oral health.

We have identified three attributes of salt: (1) It seasons, (2) it preserves, and (3) it improves. So how is salt related to our lodge? Why is it important to our lodge? Do we need salt in the lodge? Do we have salt in the lodge?

Consider each member a granule of salt. We need salt for the same reasons mentioned above. We need to constantly season our younger members for them to one day lead the lodge and chapters as youth officers and committee chairs. Seasoned, older Arrowmen can provide help in continuing this seasoning process.

We need salt to continue to preserve our values not only in our lodge and chapters but also in Scouting and our society. Our values must be maintained and passed on in our future. Every year we should not be complacent to just do what was done the year before. We should strive to improve on what we did last year.

Salt is comprised of tiny individual granules and one granule is a start, but will not provide enough to recognize a huge difference. However, when we use multiple granules of salt, we begin to realize a difference and see results. I challenge you to band together like salt and help season our lodge, work to preserve our values, and participate to improve our lodge and the members in it.

Once a long time ago a hound was out with its master trailing a mountain lion. The hound came to a place where a fox had crossed the trail, and the hound decided to follow the fox instead of the lion. A short time later, a rabbit crossed that of the fox, and again the hound changed direction. Why should he chase a fox when a rabbit might be easier to catch? When the hunter finally caught up with their hound, the dog was barking at a small hole in the ground. The hound had brought to bay a field mouse instead of a mountain lion.

Well, how about you? Have you set out on a trail to achieve your ambition? Are you able to follow it, or are you sidetracked by easier trails that cross it from time to time? Don’t be like that hound. Find out what it takes to achieve your ambition, and then get started. The best way to achieve anything in life is to set a true course for it and then stick to that trail.

Did you know that car manufacturers try out their new models on some of the worst roads in the world? They can’t find any ordinary roads that are bad enough for the purpose, so they build special tracks with ruts, bumps, and potholes that are incredibly bad. Now why do they do that, do you suppose? They want to give their cars the toughest possible test so that they can learn about the weak spots. The idea is that they will fix the weak spots before the cars go on sale.

Are you like a new car model that never was tested? Are you cheerful when the going is easy but a grumbler and griper when there is trouble? Are you like a shiny new car that falls to pieces when it gets a tough road test?

In a way, Scouting is like a road test. We challenge ourselves with rugged backpacking trips and other adventures to see whether or not we can take it. As Scouts we like to find out what our limits are, and if we find weak spots, we try to correct them. That way, we’ll be ready for life’s bumps and potholes. Then people will say of us, “They can take it.”

There used to be a saying that if a person had great ambition, they were “reaching for the stars.” The idea was that the person was so eager to succeed they were willing to try the impossible, to reach for the stars.

That doesn’t seem so impossible anymore. Humans have walked on the moon, a feat that was only dreamed of not so many years ago. (And by the way, did you know that the first astronauts who walked on the moon were Scouts? One of them, Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the moon, is an Eagle Scout. That tells you something about the kind of man he is.)

The scientists and astronauts in our space program brought the impossible dream of reaching for the stars much closer to reality. Humans will never really walk on the stars. If they tried, they would get a terribly hot foot. But the stars do not seem so far away as they used to be.

Still the idea expressed in the phrase, “reaching for the stars,” is still valid. It tells us that to enjoy life to the fullest, we must stretch our abilities to the limit. An Arrowman who does their best in everything they try will become the kind of person who reaches for the stars.

I’m holding a pair of boots. These old boots have taken me over a lot of miles of trail. They’re really comfortable. Whoever coined the expression, “as comfortable as an old shoe,” must have been talking about these old boots.

But once, a long time ago, they were brand new and stiff as a board. Oh, I softened them up with some polish and saddle soap, but mostly I broke them in by using them. One step at a time—that’s the way good boots become good friends.

Good habits are like that, too. Your morals are tested on a daily basis. So-called friends will tempt you to betray the Scout Oath. They will test your resolution to the Scout Law. When this happens, you may feel as uncomfortable as a new boot. You might hesitate or waver. But if you stick to the trail you’re on, then you’ll find it easier the next time, because, like these boots, good habits become more comfortable each time they’re used.

I have here in my hand a key. It’s a small item as you can see. Yet it will open the door to my car, and when properly placed and turned it will start the engine. With this little key I can visit faraway places, see wonderful sights, and do so many things that were impossible a generation ago. Is it any wonder that I always carry this key with me?

(Hold up a copy of the Scouting Handbook or an OA Handbook)

Your Scouting Handbook or OA Handbook is a lot like my car key. It is a small item, yet it will open the door to Scouting and the Order, and will speed you on your way to adventure. Sure, you probably could get by without using your handbook. I could get by without my car key, too, but I’d have to walk and it would be slow. I certainly wouldn’t get to see all those places I can reach by car.

Let’s not leave our key behind as we enjoy Scouting and the Order of the Arrow. Use your handbook regularly. Take it with you to meetings and on hikes and camping trips. Let your handbook open the door for you.

Anybody here want to know how to catch a monkey? Well, I can tell you how they do it in India. They take a gourd, cut a small hole in it, and then put some rice inside. Then they tie the gourds down securely and wait for the monkey.

Monkeys are greedy and selfish. I guess you could say anybody who is greedy and selfish is a monkey. Anyway, monkeys are so greedy and selfish that they fall for the gourd trick every time. The monkey sticks its paw into the gourd to get the rice. It grabs a handful—but then it can’t get its hand out of the gourd. Its closed fist won’t go through the small hole.

And it’s so greedy and selfish that it won’t let go of the handful of rice. It just waits there with its greedy fist wrapped around the rice until the people come and take him.

Well, you’ve got the moral to this story: Don’t be greedy and selfish or you may make a “monkey” of yourself.

Two brothers once decided to leave their hometown and move to the city. Outside the city the first brother met an old man. “How are the people here?” asked the first brother.

“Well, how were the people in your hometown?” asked the old man in return.

“Aw, they were always grumpy and dissatisfied,” answered the first brother. “There wasn’t a single one among them worth bothering about. “

“And,” the old man said, “you’ll find that the people here are exactly the same!”

Later the other brother came along. “How are the people in this city?” he asked.

“How were the people in your hometown?” the old man asked as before.

“Fine!” said the other brother. “Always cheerful, always kind and understanding!”

“You will find that the people here are exactly the same!” said the old man again, for he was a wise old man who knew that the attitude of the people you meet depends upon your own state of mind. If you are cheerful and frank and good-humored, you’ll find others the same.

Equipment: Twenty wooden matches or popsicle sticks held together with a rubber band. See that all the sticks are even in the bundle so the package will stand on end. Stand the bundle on the floor or on a table in front of the Scouts.

Arrowmen, you’ll notice the matches in front of you stand easily when they’re all bound together with the rubber band. But, look at what happens when I try to stand them after removing the band.

Take the rubber band off and attempt to stand them up. Of course they fall in all directions.

Our order is like a bunch of matches. As long as we work together as a team, bound together by the ties of Scouting and brotherhood, we will stand together as a strong Order. But if we remove those ideals of Scouting, and each person thinks only of themselves, we’ll be like that bunch of matches when the rubber band was taken off.

As we all live up to the ideals of the Scout Oath, Law, Motto and Slogan, we will be wrapping ourselves with the band that will strengthen our order and make sure that it stands for the things that make Scouting great.

I’m holding a roll of film. Perhaps several of you have never used a roll of film because you’ve only ever used a digital camera. But if you looked at this roll of film before development, you cannot tell what kind of picture it will make. Before development, film looks exactly the same after snapping the shutter as it did before. But after development, the image appears on the film and you can see what the picture will be when it is printed.

As I look at you Scouts, I wonder how your exposure has been. You all look the same on the surface, yet I know there are differences within each of you. Like the film, you have been exposed to good and bad things that will make an impression when you develop.

Unlike the film, you have brains and hearts. You know what is inside yourself and can do something to make certain your development is good. Follow the ideals of Scouting—the Slogan, Motto, Scout Oath and Law. If you live according to those high standards, you can be sure your development will be good as you grow older, and you will be able to enter adulthood fully prepared to be a good citizen of our great nation.

Arrowmen, did you know that everybody, including you, has a wild animal behind bars? The wild animal is your tongue, and the bars are your teeth. If your tongue is not trained it can cause a lot of trouble, not only for yourself but for those around you. Keep those bars of teeth closed until your tongue is so well trained that you know it won’t harm anybody.

Your wild animal can make trouble by bad-mouthing other people, by gossip and slander, and by wisecracks at the wrong time. Train your tongue so that it knows the right time to speak and the time to be quiet. Until you have it fully trained, keep that wild animal behind bars.

I’m holding a crisp twenty dollar bill. Who wants it?

Crumple up the $20 dollar bill. Who still wants it?

What if I do this?

Drop it on the ground and start to grind it into the floor with your shoe. Pick it up, now crumpled and dirty. 

Now, who still wants it?

We have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It is still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We may feel worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Remember this on your life’s journey, because life is full of ups and downs.

I am sure that at one time or another, every Arrowman has ridden a bicycle. As you know, the smoothness of the ride is dependent on the shape of the wheels and how the shape of the wheel is perfectly rounded. If for any reason the wheel is off balance, the ride will not be as smooth. If you loosen five or six adjoining spokes on a bicycle wheel, it will warp out of shape so that it no longer makes a true circle. Soon after this occurs, you’re going to experience a bumpy ride.

An Arrowman’s character is something like a bike wheel. The spokes are a series of guidelines that we follow in the Lodge as well as Scouting. These guidelines are meant to help us through the year to stay straight and true. Some of these guidelines are based on the Scout Oath and Scout Law. As Arrowmen, we are recognized as those who exemplify the Scout Oath and Scout Law in our daily lives. If you get loose and sloppy on any point of the Scout Law, the result will be the same as loosening the spokes on a bike wheel. This not only affects you personally but also has an impact on our lodge. Your personality, as well as the lodge’s, will be warped and out of shape.

One way to stay true to yourself and the lodge is to see that your observance of the Scout Oath and Scout Law are always foremost in your mind. When doubts creep in and you’re tempted to violate the Scout Oath or one of the points of the Scout Law, think about the warped, out-of-shape bike wheel and remember that you can help to make a difference. Resolve to live up to the ideals of Scouting which you have been recognized for.

As a member of the lodge, we are all spokes in the wheel that make the lodge move. It is up to each one of us to determine if the ride will be smooth or bumpy. I look forward to working together to experience a fun and successful year.

Each of us has the ability to make an important difference. Whether you know it or not, each of us has the power to make a difference in the lodge. As inspiration for all of us to realize that each of us can do things to help improve our lodge, here are several people in history that have proven one person can make important differences.

Gandhi made peaceful protest and peaceful civil disobedience a valuable process of peaceful change. Susan B. Anthony rose to the challenge as a famous leader of the battle to obtain women’s right to vote in the U.S. In 1908, an acclaimed English war hero, Robert Baden Powell, founded the Scouting movement in Great Britain. Seven years later at Treasure Island in the Delaware River, E. Urner Goodman launched an innovative program, the Order of the Arrow, which is based on peer recognition and service to others. John F. Kennedy, America’s thirty-fifth President believed that “one person can make a difference and every person should try.”

We need to realize that important improvements can begin with one person. If that one person is truly passionate about their mission, then they can make a difference. Imagine what would happen if each one of us worked together to improve the attendance at each of our lodge events. It is easy to say that you don’t need to attend the next event, and that it would not matter since you were only one person. What happens when two hundred Arrowmen feel this way? What would be the outcome if these same Arrowmen decided to attend?

You may not realize that each and every one of you is important and can make a difference. But just think that if one person can make a difference, imagine the difference a group of committed Arrowmen can make to the lodge.

It is exciting to watch a rocket launch. There is a thunderous sound when the rocket ignites and begins to move upward. There is also so much power and acceleration after the initial explosion! We are warned not to be too close in case anything should go wrong and the rocket veers off course or explodes. For this reason we have to keep a safe distance. As you watch the rocket ascend into space, you may wonder, “How do they start the rocket launch?” It’s not done with a match, but with a remote control.

In the early days of our American rocket program, our rockets were very simple. A huge pipe was filled with a fuel and ignited by a heavy battery. But how did the battery know when to send the spark to start the rocket? A transmitting device would send the “go” signal to the battery, which would start the rocket with a big spark. When the button was pressed, the first stage of the rocket was launched high into the air. Then a second button was pushed to ignite the second stage of the rocket to carry it further upwards.

On the day of our launch, everyone was ready. The first button was pushed and a huge spark ignited the first stage and the rocket lifted off. Everyone was thrilled. After several seconds, the second button was pressed to ignite the second stage. Unfortunately nothing happened and since the second stage did not ignite, the rocket stalled and began to fall back toward the ground. Since the rocket only used half of its fuel payload, it exploded upon impact and was destroyed when it hit the ground.

What happened? Was it the rocket? Was it the fuel? No, it was a problem with the transmitter, which did not send the signal because its small battery had quit working. Imagine this huge rocket was destroyed because a tiny battery failed to work.

Our lodge is dependent on every little part to function correctly at each one of our events. We rely on every member, no matter how new or young, to participate to make our program a success. Each one of us is important to the welfare of our lodge. Thank you for what you do to make our lodge successful.

A good positive attitude can truly change the way you approach things in Scouting, life, and your future. Several years ago out West, there was a wildlife organization that offered a bounty of $5000 for wolves captured alive. Two friends decided to go out West and seek their fortunes. Day and night they scoured the mountains and forest looking for their valuable prey.

Exhausted one night, they fell asleep dreaming of their potential fortune. Suddenly, one of them woke up a bit startled, to see that they were surrounded by about fifty wolves with searing black eyes and bared teeth. He nudged his sleeping friend and said, “Wake up! I think we’re rich!”

They had a positive attitude!

And so it is in the lodge. Your attitude can turn a negative situation into a positive one just that quickly. Try it out next time you’re faced with adversity, and let’s see how more richly our program will become.

With great regret, I announce the retirement of one of the lodge's most valuable brothers. ‘Someone Else’ has stepped down, and the vacancy left will be hard to fill. ‘Else’ has been with us for many years; They have done far more than their share of the work around the lodge. When there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, their name was on everybody’s lips: “Let Someone Else do it.”

Whenever a committee was mentioned, they were looked to for inspiration as well as results: “Someone Else will set up the event.” And when there was a trip to take, ‘Someone Else’ was thought to be the best transportation: “Let Someone Else take them.”

‘Someone Else’ is a wonderful person, but they are only human, they could spread themselves only so thin. They did the best they could, but people expected too much from them. We have to face the fact that there was just not enough of ‘Someone Else’ to go around.

And now that ‘Someone Else’ is gone, we’re wondering what we are going to do without them. They have left us a great example to follow, but who will follow it? Who is going to do the things that someone else did?

All of us have a preferred comfort zone. Our comfort zone is something that has both positive and negative qualities for our lives. Most of us are creatures of habit and want to be comfortable with our personal lives to the extent that we are relatively free from constant worry. Unfortunately, if we allow ourselves to be too comfortable we can miss the fulfillment of our potential—in all aspects of life.

There is a story about two hikers who were hiking along in the woods one night in utter darkness. Their flashlights were burned out and it was difficult to see the trail. In front of them was a tree that blocked the trail. They had to deviate off the trail to attempt to go around the blockage. Off the trail, they did not see a huge hole. Unwittingly, they both fell into the hole. They struggled profusely to get out but simply couldn’t climb up the steep walls in the blackness of the night. Content that they would have to wait until morning to get out, they sat down in the corner and quickly fell asleep.

Several hours later a lone hiker finds himself also falling to the bottom of the hole. He too struggles and strains to get out but, exhausted, he decides to sit down and wait for the morning light. As he is about to rest he hears a sluggish voice in the darkness say, “Forget it, you can’t get out.”

Faster than you can blink your eyes, he was out of the hole! It is amazing that when the lone hiker was not comfortable any more, when he had a little fear in them and didn’t feel safe, he was able to jump higher, climb farther, and put forth a little more effort. Imagine what you can accomplish if you simply put forth a little more effort.

Avoid getting too comfortable in your life. Do something this week that takes you out of your comfort zone and out of your normal routine. Start small and discipline yourself to do something that stretches you to become better, improve a skill, or expand your experiences. Striving to push your own comfort zone will make you feel more alive and more in tune with your senses. Yes, comfort is desirable to an extent, but not when it stifles your ability to truly live up to your potential.

Once there was a person who said some things about a friend that were neither true nor complimentary. Afterward, they felt ashamed and went to their friend and apologized. Still, as they walked around town, they could hear the false words being repeated. Troubled by this, they went to the wisest person in the community.

“How can I undo this terrible wrong that I did?” they asked the wise person.

The wise person thought for a moment and said, “Bring me a feather pillow.” They did so and quickly returned. “Now go to the hilltop outside of town, slit open the pillowcase, and shake it until all of the feathers are gone.” Again, they quickly did as they were instructed. When they returned to the wise person, the wise person said, “Now go and pick up every single feather and place them all back into the pillowcase.”

They replied, “But that’s impossible. There is no way that I can find all those feathers and put them back.”

“Indeed,” answered the wise person, “and there is no way to gather back the words that you cast into the air either.”

And so it is. Once we speak, we can never gather the words back into the pillowcase. We should be wise to remember this and think about what we are going to say before we cast our words into the wind.

Nations, states, communities, and even families have laws. These are simple rules by which people must live in order to have harmony. If we didn’t have rules or laws to govern ourselves, civil society would be impossible.

If a person breaks the law of the land, they are penalized in some way. They might be fined or sent to prison. If you break one of your family’s laws or rules, you get penalized, too. Maybe your time to watch television is cut back, maybe you get grounded, or maybe something more serious.

Each of us needs their own set of laws to govern themselves, too. These are your personal standards, the laws by which you live. In Scouting, we call those standards the Scout Law.

What’s the penalty for breaking the Scout Law? Maybe you think the penalty would not be so bad, but let’s consider it for a moment. If you’re not trustworthy, people will never depend on you. If you’re not friendly, you won’t have many friends. If you’re not obedient to your teachers, parents, and others in authority, you can’t expect that other people will obey you when you’re in authority.

There’s a good reason for every kind of law—our nation’s, our town’s, our family’s and our own. They show how we can live in harmony with others and with ourselves. Think about that as we repeat the Scout Law.

Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time, spoke about his failures in a Nike commercial. In the commercial, Jordan says, “I missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

These failures are not what we remember about Michael Jordan or that one year he did not make his high school basketball team. What we remember is him leading his team to all those national championships.

We are coming to the close of the year, and asking everyone to look back over this year and talk about the things you have done and accomplished. You may see the bad things you did not accomplish, but also the good. I urge you to learn from those things that did not go well, strive to make them better, and cherish what you accomplished.

After all, if we as a lodge do not learn from our mistakes, then we are doomed to repeat them. Let’s finish the year strong and celebrate our victories!

You see this baseball glove? I imagine you’ve all played some form of baseball, or at least have played catch. You know that there’s not a lot of padding for the palm of the hand. That’s because you’re supposed to catch the ball in the pocket of the glove, not with the palm.

That’s not how baseball gloves started. That’s because the methods of catching the baseball were different. Baseball gloves originally had the padding in the palm of the glove, and often it took two hands to catch the ball. As you can imagine, there wasn’t a lot of protection with these early gloves; it is easy to misjudge the ball and hurt your hand or break a finger. Many of the early baseball greats—Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams—used the older glove. In fact, Lou Gehrig played 2,130 straight games without missing a single one. It is reported that he played with seventeen broken fingers or bones in his hands and never missed a game.

Nowadays, the method for catching the ball is very different. The glove’s long fingers and pocket changed that method. Despite this, the fundamentals of the game of baseball are exactly the same. You have a pitcher, a catcher, and a batter. The batter tries to hit the ball and run to first base before he is thrown out. The fundamentals are exactly the same as in the 1930s when Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth played baseball.

The principles and fundamentals with which Goodman started the Order of the Arrow have not changed. They are still true today. Service to camps and cheerful service without expecting recognition for it are all the fundamentals we go by today. Some of the methods we use are a bit different from 1915, but the methods don’t change the principles. So always try to keep in mind why you do the things you do for the Order of the Arrow. You have something in common with the early twentieth century Scouts of Treasure Island. Your principles are the same, though some of the methods are different.

You are a lodge officer of this lodge. When you stand in front of the lodge and speak, you should be in full uniform and should be wearing it correctly. You set the example for every youth in this lodge. You would never see a policeman or a soldier wearing their uniform shirt and a pair of jeans. You shouldn’t either. You are a lodge officer of this lodge and you have an obligation to set the example. Part of that is setting the example with your uniform, so when you stand before the lodge, you are either in the uniform or you are out of uniform—there is no halfway.

The same is true of your values. As an officer of this lodge, you must adhere to a uniform set of principles set out in the Scout Oath and Scout Law. You cannot pick and choose which parts of these values you want to exhibit, just like you cannot pick which parts of your uniform you will wear. There is no halfway.

“Fifteen blazes led you to us, but the trail that you have followed becomes rougher, steeper, fainter. You will need a brighter fire.”

Have you ever stopped to think about what this means? Perhaps unless you have portrayed Nutiket in the pre-Ordeal ceremony, then you haven’t given much thought to this. We know what the fifteen blazes represent. Think about what Nutiket means when they say that those blazes led you to the pre-Ordeal ceremony. What do they mean when they say that the path becomes more difficult? What is the brighter fire they refer to, and how will it help you over this treacherous terrain?

Nutiket is not saying that you should abandon the fifteen blazes and opt instead for a brighter fire. Instead, you should continue to use the fifteen blazes to assist you on your path. However, they won’t be enough. Have you experienced a time since your induction when the trail has become a bit rougher? Perhaps there were forks in the road, and you needed a guiding light to help you safely discern the right path from the wrong one. The fifteen blazes are there to help you.

Think about these things the next time you watch a ceremony. What words resonate with you? How can you make the fire brighter? 

Many of you have heard of Mother Teresa. She was a citizen of India who devoted her life to serving the poor. She is known around the world for her missionary work. Mother Teresa showed that you do not have to do big things to be a blessing to others. When someone is hungry you can feed them. If they are dirty you can help clean them. If they are sick you can care for them. If they are lonely you can talk to them. If they mourn someone you can give them words of comfort. You do not have to be rich or famous or a person of great importance to do any of this. You simply have to care about others as much as you care about your own needs. Mother Teresa cared for many who were sick, fed many who were hungry, and cleaned many who were dirty. She was not always famous but she always cared.

Each of you can be a blessing to others as you live your lives. You can say a kind word when someone is down; you can buy a meal for someone who is hungry. When you help someone, keep it to yourself, you do not need to beat your chest on a street corner and say what a good person you are. The world will notice your example by how you treat others. When the opportunities arise, always be a blessing to family, friends, and strangers!

The second point of the Scout Law is “A Scout is Loyal.” Our Scout handbook explains that a Scout is loyal to their family, Scout leaders, friends, school, and nation.

I'm going to add one more thing to that list—a Scout is loyal to their team. The team might be their patrol, chapter, or sports team. Your patrol or soccer team can’t be as good as it should be if you goof off a lot or constantly complain about your teammates or your patrol leader or coach. A winning patrol and a winning team must have a winning attitude. That means that every member must be willing to do their part and not spend time griping because the patrol's plans or the game are not going their way.

That doesn't mean that you have to be close friends with everybody in your patrol, chapter, or team or even like all of them. But it means that when you join, you commit yourself to the success of the group and pledge to give it your best effort.

In Scouting and sports, it’s teamwork that makes winners. So whenever you’re with others, remember, “A Scout is loyal.”

Some years ago a hard-nosed coach said, “Winning isn't everything, but it sure beats whatever's second.” There's some truth in that. Everyone likes to win. Very few people enjoy losing.

The trouble is that in every type of competition, there must be losers as well as winners. That’s true in sports and it’s true in the competitions we have in Scouting. It’s also true in life. You and every other human being find that sometimes you have to be a loser. Perhaps your sports team loses a game on an unlucky break. Or maybe you work hard in school but get low grades. Some people might say you’re a loser. Maybe so. But you don't have to stay a loser.

The real difference between winners and losers is that a loss makes some people more determined to do better next time. In the long run they are the winners because they learn to profit by their defeats and mistakes. No, winning isn't everything. We can learn from losses, too. Let's remember that at the coming lodge events and in the years to come.

You probably all know some person who is grouchy all the time. Their neighbors try to be nice to them, but they just won't be friendly. Maybe they'd build a great wall around their house to keep people away.

Let me tell you about another kind of neighbor I heard about. There was no wall around their property, and somebody noticed that a strip of grass between their yard and their neighbor’s yard was unusually green. They asked them, “Why?”

“Oh,” they laughed, “my neighbor and I are so afraid we’ll cheat each other that we always water and fertilize the grass across the line on the other fellows side. That strip of grass down the property line gets twice as much water and fertilizer as the rest of our yards.” Instead of a fence to keep each other away, that person and their neighbor had a vivid green reminder that they were friends.

The point of this story is that if you want to have friends, you can’t build walls between yourselves and other people. Instead, cultivate that space between you by being as fair to the other person as you’d like them to be to you. A Scout is friendly, and the way to have friends—and keep them—is to be friendly yourself. 

It may seem funny to say so, but you’re very lucky that it hurts when you hit your finger with a hammer. If it didn't hurt you could be in big trouble. It’s a rarity when a person can’t feel pain, but it does happen. Some years ago, for example, there was an eight-year-old boy in England who couldn't feel pain. For some reason, his nerves did not signal pain to his brain. If you think he was lucky, think again. The problem could cost him his life. Once he was seriously burned by a red-hot oven door, but he didn’t even know it until he was snatched away.

It is clear that physical pain can save us from mortal danger. But there is another kind of pain, too, and all of us here can feel it. It’s a spiritual or moral pain, and it’s called conscience. The conscience is one of our greatest gifts. Without our conscience, we would not know enough to keep from getting burned in even more serious ways than that English boy.  

So as the old saying goes, “Let your conscience be your guide.” It will help you to know whether you are following the Scout Oath and Law. You have no better friend than your conscience.  

Every once in a while when you’re working on a pioneering project, you’ll find a spar that looks great but that turns out to be weak and unreliable. Maybe its center has been eaten away by insects. Or maybe it has natural splits inside that you can't see. You can test a spar for soundness by holding one end and rapping the other end sharply on a rock. If it’s sound you'll hear it ring. Otherwise, you’ll want to toss it aside and find a good, solid spar to work with.

Some people are like defective spars. They look great on the outside and they may have appealing personalities, the kind of people you think you would like to know. But when you do get to know them better, you find that they’re like a defective spar—weak inside. They don’t have the strength of character to resist things that you know are wrong, and chances are they will want you to do those things, too.

When that happens, do the same thing you do when you have a defective spar: Cast it aside and find a sounder one. In other words, choose friends who are solid to the core. 

In the early 1960s President John F. Kennedy made a bold statement to Congress and the American people. Kennedy promised that the country would put a man on the Moon “not because [it is] easy, but because [it is] hard.” At that time, there was little practicality or certainty of how NASA could make it to the moon and back, but the United States had a new and exciting mission. We believed we could complete the impossible because that is what we were set out to do. In July 1969, thousands at the National Scout Jamboree and across the world were able to witness Eagle Scout Neil Armstrong touch down on that cratered surface of the Moon and declare, “The Eagle has landed.”

The Order of the Arrow also has a lofty mission, “to achieve the mission of Scouting America through transformative fellowship that ignites limitless Scouting journeys.” Many times your mission seems farther away than the stars and improbable at best, but easy or hard this is what we were chosen to do. Through dedication, the advice of experienced adults, and encouragement of one another, we can complete these missions; we can make these landings possible. Just like the exploration of space, our mission of service will never be complete, but through you, our youth leadership, we will have many successes on the way. 

As a person was passing by some elephants, they suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could break away at any time from their bonds. For some reason, they did not.

They saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” the trainer said, “when the elephants are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them. At that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The person was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.