The Scout Visit To The Forest

This week our boyscout troop traveled to Old Ben Scout Reservation for five days of camping out in the forest in largely primitive conditions. This was Dylan's second year to attend, and going from last year to this was like going from night to day. Dylan, on his way to becoming a literal first class Scout, tied half-hitch knots in order to secure tents, fished at 4 in the morning, earned three merit badges (two of which apply to Eagle Scout), and his camp patrol was one point away from being third place. I attended three of the five days and two of the four nights. My responsibilities included setting up camp after dark, keeping the camp neat and orderly, and guiding the kids while in camp and assisting two of them in earning an environmental science merit badge. Obviously Scouting, and being in the great outdoors has not only been good for Dylan, but has been good for me and Mary as well. There is something that builds character, however cliche' but real that may sound, in leaving the trappings of home life and the city, wandering out to a forest, setting up camp, and situating onesself in Nature. The Scout way is not one of pitting oneseself against the elements, but rather to arrange onesself in an outdoor environment, where a harmony is struck between man and Nature. Scouts are taught they have the freedom to believe in a Deity, and that that Deity perhaps inhabits the Nature the Scout experiences. Consequently, Scouts learn to 'leave no trace' when in the outdoors, to take only pictures and leave only footprints, and to make a clean, efficient footprint when setting up a camp. There is a real Reverance that develops between the Scout and his environment.
Besides Reverance, a Scout is taught to be cheerful as much as possible, through trying times as well as times spent at ease. I saw this particular Scout virtue practiced by the entire troop throughout the entire week. Through rain, wind, mud and groundwater, mosquitos and ticks, the threat of coyotes and bobcats, our troop maintained a verve, a spirit of cheerfulness that I felt was exemplary.
As a young man who has passed the point of naivete' and entered the realm of a healthy scepticism, I know the boys in my troop are going to encounter many trials in life that will at times become overwhelming. Through the Scout way, I am priveleged to be able to share some good sound advice both verbal and nonverbal with these boys concerning how to soften the blows of Fate and Fortune. A cheerful heart is certainly going to go a long way in warming the soul when it goes through it's trials and tribulations.
But at bottom, I do not inspire these Scouts. Boy Scouts is afterall, a boy led organization. They are the real inspiration, the real lifeblood of what goes into making a successful foray into the forest. It is their enthusiasm, their ability to leave the world of the city behind with all of it's problems, in order to face the world of Nature and adapt Nature's 'new' problems.
And if this isn't Courage, another Scout virtue, I don't know what is...