Large Fierce Mammal

This article is dedicated to Eric Noeldechen whose Facebook photo album documenting his recent Wood Badge training, and the resulting correspondence, inspired me to resurrect it. And no, this is not a portrait of Eric.

Back in the early 1980’s I embarked on what would be six glorious years as a Leader of Boy Scouts. I was building my business at the same time so that, and other family commitments, eventually took priority but, over the years since, I have continued to contribute my skills and knowledge to help out those Scout and Guide Leaders who ask for them.

My tenure in the Scouting Movement overlapped the 75th anniversary of its founding in 1907 by Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, and in the process I also served a spell as publicity chairman for the Lunenburg District Commission writing a popular weekly newspaper column for several years covering Scouting interests and activities called The Spirit Lives On. The article that follows was originally published in the 6 October 1982 editions of the Bridgewater Bulletin and Lunenburg’s Progress Enterprise, and later appeared in The Leader magazine. It was the reason I got offered the publicity post.

I initially decided to republish this article in its original form but in the end couldn’t resist just a little editing. I was slightly less than half my present age when I wrote it, and my view of the world has changed a fair bit since then, but my views of the importance of strength of character, personal initiative and responsibility, preparedness, self-sufficiency, commitment and resolve are stronger now than ever, particularly now that I’ve had all those extra years to test my opinions against reality. Speaking from my personal experience, I still see Scouting is one of those organizations that gives its members the freedom to teach and learn the vital components of self-sufficient adulthood without simultaneously requiring them to swallow a healthy dose of some other religious or political agenda. So, without further preamble, I invite you to sit back and read the article that the then Editor of The Leader magazine kindly wrote had, “… rekindled more than a few embers ….” around his office.

The Bold Spirit of Scouting

by Randy L. Whynacht

What Scouter hasn’t, at one time or another, sat back and pondered the future of Scouting? Most of us have thought about it, a few have even discussed it; but how far into the future have these pleasant diversions taken us? 10 years? 25? 50? 100 maybe???? The fact is, while most will cheerfully join a discussion concerning the future relevance of the Movement, few are truly willing to attack the exercise to its fullest extent.

Look back through the literature and you will find articles with titles like “Scouting in the ’60’s” and “Scouting in the ’70’s”; all aimed in the right direction but far too short sighted. At the very most, if some writer happens to get both trendy and adventurous, you might find something like “Scouting – The Next 75 Years”, although I haven’t seen that one yet. What confuses me most about this state of affairs is why a group of vibrant, dynamic, courageous, intelligent people like ourselves can’t seem to see farther ahead than the next decade.

Scouting is – must be – thoroughly interwoven with the fabric of the society that surrounds it, of which it is a vital part. A rapidly changing, fast paced society like ours necessitates a great deal of flexibility on the part of its members and makes tremendous demands of its components, not least of which is Scouting.

Only a few short years ago, a person at college or university who wasn’t keeping a sharp eye on developments in his chosen field would find himself with a head full of obsolete knowledge by the time he graduated. Today it’s even worse, especially for those in technical fields. Information is dated before we get it. Scouting certainly can’t be an island of calm in the midst of that kind of chaos.

But the Spirit of Scouting is bold, and more than equal to the challenge! So wake up boys and girls! Let’s think big! Let’s look far!

Something that was abundantly clear to the Founder, a basic premise that formed the foundation of his writings and which has gotten clouded  over the seven and a half decades of time and attempts at modernization since, is that “Scouting – the Spirit” is why “Scouting – the Movement” exists, not the other way around. “Scouting – the Spirit” has always been with us, though fully known to only a few. The Movement was developed as a vehicle for infusing society with the vitality of that Spirit through its boyhood, and what a wonderful vehicle it has turned out to be! A veritable magic carpet!

The Movement. as we all know, had its beginning in the heyday of the British Empire. Through it, the Spirit caught like a flame in the hearts of boys worldwide and continued to burn with undiminished brightness even as the sun finally set on imperial Britain. Wars have come and gone, balances of power have shifted, but that fire remains, leaping the gaps of misunderstanding between nations with its infectious tradition of adventure and its boyish lust for life. The Spirit of Scouting is also incurably optimistic, and with a grand history such as this behind us, who can help but be imbued with that optimism, and spurred to the certainty that still greater things are ahead?

Many have written of the Movement’s past, but few writers have manned keyboard and deigned to portray it in the light of a future age. Of these few, the most prolific champion of the subject was late science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein to whose prodigious output can be added some excellent stories set in a future where space travel is commonplace; in which intrepid, space suited Scouts of that era uphold the fine traditions of Scouting, both Spirit and Movement, in adventures unconfined to planet Earth. And indeed, why should they not? Where the Spirit goes man will not fear to tread; and where man goes, should the Movement be far behind?

Mr. Heinlein’s stories are set in the kind of whiz bang supersonic Tom Swift world writers of mid-twentieth century “hard” science fiction loved to endlessly speculate about as their characters grappled with what seemed then to be the most logical next frontier. In facing those challenges, his future Scouts, and Scouters too, are possessed of the Scouting spirit in its purest form; as the living, vital, driving force that it was, is, and always will be.

Future Paths …

The future into which we are headed is no fictitious one, that is true. It will be real and hard as nails. But we must be careful not to dismiss Mr. Heinlein’s writings as overly fanciful; never to put too tight a rein on our imaginations. Casting aside from our thinking the pessimistic finality of the much feared man made catastrophe and those who would lead us to it (Scouts have no truck with foolishness), and looking about us at the troubles that afflict not only our own society, but that of our neighbours the world over, it seems very much in character that men should, by one means or another, seek to expand the horizons of this limited and much abused planet by seeking new frontiers where the horizons are a good deal more distant. It has always been thus, but not much history needs to be studied before it becomes clear that the lone, heroic frontiersman is not, in reality, the mover and shaker, and never has been. Families do the moving and shaking, and with families come boys. Where there are boys there will be a need for Scouting. The braver and newer the world, the greater the need, for if there is one thing to be learned from history above all else, it is that we must learn to be more helpful and trustworthy, kinder and more cheerful, more considerate and clean, and wiser in the use of our resources.

We are now living in what would have been considered the far future of those very first Scouts back in 1907, but the Movement is needed more now than ever. We are told in training that, as Scouters, we can potentially have more effect on the boys whose lives we touch than any other adult they will meet in their formative years, and this should bring home to each one of us the importance of the role we play in shaping the future. Being a Scouter is demanding and, as life becomes moreso, so must the job. To do it well we must train ourselves to know the Spirit better. If we seek to kindle its flame and fan it to the proportions of a conflagration within the heart of each of our boys, then we, ourselves, must first have enough fire in our own hearts to share.

The Spirit …

So what, really, is the Spirit? In giving my interpretation of it so far I have hardly scratched the surface. We all know it because we all have it in varying degrees. In some it burns hot and bright, while in others it simply smoulders in embers buried under ash, waiting to be rekindled. It’s as old as people, and maybe older depending on how you define it. It hasn’t always had a name, but it has made itself felt since our earliest rememberings; and like love or any other powerful human feeling, it means something slightly different to each one of us, and is awfully hard to put down in words.

It was set down  by the Founder that he who seeks to be always on the forefront of new frontiers; whether it be by sailing unknown waters, tramping trackless wilderness, labouring in a laboratory, or who by any means heeds no danger  in his compulsion to push back the darkness and expand the boundaries of human understanding and achievement, is imbued with the Scouting Spirit in its fullest and truest sense. To this I would add that an embracing of the Spirit will further enable the forthright and victorious facing down of those smaller and more immediate personal frontiers we all encounter, and that must be crossed over every single day.

Our boys are not on the forefront, yet, but they will be, and they must be made aware of it and encouraged to be ready. Throughout history, men of vision; not least among them Robert Stephenson Smythe Baden-Powell; have pointed out that it does not do to be merely carried along by the currents on the ocean of time; that it is possible, indeed vital, to learn how to steer and, most importantly, to navigate.

This makes the Scouting Spirit a central driving force behind constructive change. Human civilization is not static; never has been; and as long as we strive to create, to accomplish, to walk where no one has ever walked before, to test out physical and mental limits, it never will be.

If you find these statements bold then remember, the Spirit of Scouting defines bold, and history has proven, time after time, that even the boldest thinking is sometimes not bold enough to foresee the wonders of coming realities.

Wherever the future lies, one thing is certain: our world is in transition, and the rate of change is quickening. As Scouters we must make sure that our approach to Scouting reflects this so that the Movement will always keep pace with the Spirit.

In the future, near and far, there is no doubt that the Movement will carry on as it has since 1907, but the quality of what it has to offer, and its effect on the young men it touches, will come to depend more than ever before upon how dedicated, well informed, and imaginative we Scouters are, starting now. Our leadership training programs do not emphasize this enough. Their approach should be that it cannot be emphasized enough.

Taken globally, human society is awash with change, not all of it to the good. Outcomes are unclear but, however exciting the voyage, the destination will be determined by the quality of people who man the helm. The demand is for men who are prepared to meet challenge, control it, and shape it. We Scouters have a duty to do our best in preparing our Scouts to be those men. Renaissance men of the highest calibre; able to see others for what they are, themselves for what they can be, and their world for what it can become.