“I think that American leadership is
vital to peace and prosperity and the advancement of democracy in the world,
and that requires having strong leaders.
And I don't think there's any organization in the world, certainly not
in the United States, that better prepares young men for leadership in this
century than the Boy Scouts of America - in teaching leadership skills, in
teaching values, in teaching importance of standing up for what's right.” – Robert Gates
In a
conversation with a new friend I was asked how many grand-children I had. Proudly I answered "Nine. My oldest daughter and her husband have six
and my youngest daughter (We only have the two) and her husband have
three." My new friend got a
concerned look on his face and said, "Don't you worry about kids growing
is such a violent and nasty world as this?" My response was quick and from the heart,
"Not at all," I said, "They will make it better."
I understand how when you look
at the world we live in it can be a bit discouraging. We have leaders in the highest offices lie
and cheat. We have crime everywhere and
so much cruelty and hate. However,
believe it or not, it has been worse. A
funny thing about people, we look at our current times and believe it is the
worst it has ever been; and in twenty years we see it as the "Good Old
Days".
Things are bad, there is no
getting away from that. We need a fundamental
change to our society and behavior. But
how do we get that change? It is not by
making more laws and rules. We already
have so many laws and regulations that no one know what they can or cannot do
anymore. No, the way to change our world
is to change the people in it. One
person at a time. Sounds simple and
impossible at the same time. How do you
change people? How can we do anything
really affective to bring about change for the good?
Allow me to give you two basic
and very important ways that you can make an effective and immediate change to
the world you live in.
Change One: Start With Yourself
You
do not have the power to change anything in life, but you do have the power to
change you, and by doing that, you change it all. "But I am not a bad person", you
may say. "I follow the laws, and am
a nice guy and give to charity." That
is all very wonderful, but we can all be better than we are. It is a simple case of doing the right thing
- all the time - just because it is the right thing to do. That sounds easy but it takes work and
courage to pull it off.
Sometimes
doing the right thing is refusing to do the wrong thing. It is taking a stand for what is right, even
if you are the only one standing. True
character in a person is an active thing that shows in all areas of life; how
we behave, how we deal with others and what we believe. This is where the Scout Law can bring clarity
and direction to our lives. It helps us
understand in 12 principles, what it means to be a person of honesty, integrity
and faithfulness.
If
you start with you, you will have successfully changed one person for the
better and thus, changed us all as a whole.
If each one of us did this there would be nothing, no matter how
powerful or wicked, that could overcome us.
I love the words of writer, Thomas Carlyle who said, "Make yourself
an honest man, then you may be sure that there is one less scoundrel in the
world."
Change Two: Teach Our Children How
To Be People Of Character
As
a parent, grand-parent, relative, teacher, coach, Sunday school teacher or
anything that puts you in contact with children, you have an awesome power and responsibility
to shape a life. Look at many of the
problems we have with our youth today and ask, "Where did they learn this
stuff?" The answer is, from us. We pour so much trash and wrong into their
lives through movies, games, school, example and more. They did not come up with bad behavior on
their own, we taught them.
This
principle of teaching works the other way too.
We can, and many do, teach our children how to make right choices, do
good deeds, study and work hard, be polite and to think of others. As a Cub Scout leader, grand-parent and
someone who is around kids a lot, I can tell you that there are many great and
well behaved kids in this world. I look
at my Scouts and I am hopeful for tomorrow.
Remember
this, these kids you see today, whether your own or those you are in contact
with, will be - not maybe, but WELL BE, the leaders of
tomorrow. They will one day run things
and if we want a better world we best start with them. When we invest our time and energy into
children we are investing in our future.
I
get so put off by self seeking adults who claim they do all their underhanded
and unethical acts for "the children". You want do we something to help the
children, start by teaching them honesty, integrity, hard work and
justice. How can we make the family
better? Start by showing our children
what a family should be and how people in that family should act. Want to feed a hungry child? Start by teaching them the value of hard
work, earning your way and to be self-sufficient. We have a responsibility to teach our
children to be the best they can be.
I
believe that one of the best tools we have in this country to help lead our
children in the right direction is Scouting.
Do all those who were in Scouts turn out to be model citizens? No.
But more do than do not. Scouting
is not a replacement to good parenting, it is only a tool that can help in the
process. It is up to us, the family
members to help our children learn how to make good choices, do their best,
love God, have good manners, discover the unknown and change the world. In this, I am hopeful for tomorrow.
John Patrick Hickey is an author,
speaker, Life Coach and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or
to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business or
group, visit our website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com.
© 2014 John
Patrick Hickey