Think about it. It is truly amazing. We spend a lot of our lives in line or lanes. We wait in line at the bank. We wait with our shopping cart at the store. We drive in lanes, sometimes one wide, sometimes two wide. These lanes and lines help us to get where we are going and help us to stay organized in our community.
What I find truly amazing is that many of these lines and lanes are nothing more than a line painted on the floor or road. Sometimes they exist only in our minds. We “create” the line, and then we and the people around us, follow it. And we all live happily ever after…
Until someone does not follow the line. It irritates us when someone cuts into the line at the store or theater. Tempers rise and words are said. People become unfriendly. When someone incorrectly crosses the line on a road doing seventy miles an hour accidents can happen and people can be killed.
We also have lines to follow in Scouting. Using a map and compass we follow an imaginary line to get to where we wish to go, possibly our campsite for the night. We stand in line to get a plateful of food, or to participate in an activity at a camporee.
The Scout Oath and the Scout Law represent two lines that a boy and adult agree to follow when they join a Boy Scout troop. When an adult follows these lines he sets a good example for the Scouts in his troop. When a boy follows these lines he has a good start on growing into a man of strong character. He will be an asset to his community. People will look up to him. He will be respected.
Of course, when a boy (or an adult leader) drift away from the line of behavior set by the Scout Oath and Law, the chances increase that he will find himself in trouble. The news is full of boys and men who have strayed from the line of good behavior. Too many times they find themselves in a small room looking out through vertical lines that keep them in place.
Which lines have you chosen to follow?
Good post Steve