Scoutmaster Minute - 40 Day vs a Lifetime of Pause

OK.  The following blog has nothing to do with camping.  Sue me.  No one is reading my blogs anyway.   I have something that I like to write on my own, even though there are tons of websites that I could rely on that wouldn't make me write any thing if I didn't want to.  That is the Scoutmaster Minute.  At the end of the Scout meeting, and just before closing prayer, our troop has a Scoutmaster minute where the Scoutmaster can give a minute of wisdom to the troop.  I wrote this one just now, and I wanted to share it.

February 9.

Did you know that today is the 40^th day of 2016?  I was wondering with a show of hands how many of you made a new year’s resolution at the beginning of the year?  How long did it last?  Tomorrow is the beginning of the season of Lent, which is a season of 40 days before Easter where Christians pause to focus on simple living, prayer and fasting to focus on God and in order to be the best Christian they can be.  Simple living is the reason why it is often asked WHAT ARE YOU GIVING UP FOR LENT THIS YEAR?

Did you know that every time we meet as a troop we pause and make a resolution to be the best scouts we can be?  We do this, of course, by repeating the Scout Oath and Law.  The Oath and Law is a promise we make to be the best person and citizen we can be.  This is so important.  I could keep you for hours telling stories about people who don’t live by a code of honor and duty to others, but that is for another time.  And the way our Oath and Law is different than a new year’s resolution or Lent is that we aren’t giving up anything by following it.  Instead we are adopting a way of living or a way of behaving.  Hold on to these words.  I promise they will change your life forever.