Give Me A Scout

Give me a Scout that will be strong enough to know when he is weak
and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid...

                        who is proud and undaunted in honest defeat
                        but humble and gentle in victory.

                        Give me a Scout whose heart is clear and whose goals are high

…                    who will learn to master himself before he tries to master others

                       who has learned to laugh but has not forgotten how to weep
                        a Scout who will look to the future yet never forget the past

…who has enough sense of humor that he may always be serious.

 Give me a Scout with humility to learn that to know himself is the
foundation stone of all knowledge

…who has not followed the paths of ease and comfort,
but has solidly faced the trials of challenge

…who has learned to stand up to the teeth of the storm
and has learned to accept passion for those who fail

…who has knelt to give sympathy to those who cannot help themselves.

 Give me a Scout who so stands before his fellow men that his Scoutmaster dares to
whisper, “I have not lived in vain.”

And when you find this Scout…

he bears the mark of an Eagle.

(This poem is a variation of  “A Father’s Prayer", written by General Douglas MacArthur “during the early days of the desperate campaigns in the Far East in World War II.”  See MacArthur, His Rendezvous with History, Courtney Whitney, p. 547 (1956).