So a rare moment on the patio while the whiskey barrel water garden gurgles, the crickets breep behind me and the cicadas buzz in the trees. Somewhere in the distance I can hear the whine of the traffic on I-35 (which is not far from the house), but overall it is a peaceful night.

Sometimes I get so caught up in the perversity of human stupidity and how the best-intentioned people can make some of the dumbest decisions on the face of God’s green Earth. But I must remind myself that we foolish humans have been on this planet for a long, long time and, God willing, will be here for an even longer time.

Perhaps all of us who get caught up in discovering the foibles of those evil/stupid (strike whichever is not needed — see ‘Conflict of Visions’ for a guide) people on the other side need to sit down and listen.

We have this great gift — a groundbreaking Broadway musical, packed with unforgettable tunes, choreography, and characters, and it’s named after our state (although it nearly wasn’t). Let’s make the most of it.

Discoverland’s Oklahoma! is one of those things that has been on my “todo” list for some time, but I never seem to get around to it. Usually because we are Tulsa to visit my brother-in-law. But Michael has convinced me to take the family up for a special trip.

On a related note, when I was a kid, I mis-heard the lyrics to Oklahoma! as: “Every night my honey lemon eye”. I could never figure out what exactly that was.

The Anchoress here is talking about Bill Whittle (another of my favorite authors), “required volunteer service” and the authenticity of political candidates. A worthy read for both the Anchoress’s words and Bill Whittle’s original essay.

I used to volunteer at a local hospital, working with patients recovering from brain accidents, and also at a local Alzheimer’s facility. I did that because I wanted to, I was not compelled to do it (except, perhaps by the Holy Spirit). Because it was truly voluntary, it was real, authentic service.

…

Think of monasticism. A monastic gives up everything, moves into a community, share all his goods and even lets go of individuality; if superficial individuality is subsumed in the cause of something greater, it is because the monks and nuns have individually determined that it must be so. Because everyone there is of a like mind, and voluntarily giving themselves up – voluntarily practicing self-abnegation – it works. It is an authentic life of service and sacrifice because it is voluntary.

If you were to try to force monasticism, to compel people to work at something in which they do not believe, to give themselves up for something that does not speak to their individual hearts and spirits, it would not work. It would be completely inauthentic, and it would die.

Ellipses are mine.

The problem is that Boy Scouts require so many hours of “volunteer work” in order to advance in rank. While I understand what they are driving for, this has bothered me for quite some time. How can this be in any way, shape or form volunteer work? This is work required in order to obtain a goal. Worthy work and a worthy goal. But not volunteerism.

Mind you, I don’t have a solution to this problem. I’m not sure how big of a problem this is as the Boy Scouts are a volunteer organization — Adult volunteers (by and large) and young men who volunteer to join.

with our next Eagle candidate — Paul. Paul is developing a butterfly garden for a local park.

Our troop has a set of adults who are Eagle mentors that assist the young men in obtaining their Eagle rank. Some time after my son David obtained his Eagle rank, I started mentoring Eagle candidates in our troop. Every Eaglet that I have mentored has probably accomplished more in terms of handling responsibility and planning a large project than most adults. And that is the key to Scouting.

Paul wanted to attend the wake as he is not able to attend tomorrow’s funeral. So back we went to Resthaven and another visit with our extended Scout family.

I will miss Doc B’s infectious laugh and his weather-beaten hat. I will miss his deep love of these young men. I will miss someone who was like a grandfather to my children.

I close with one of Doc B’s favorite quotes from Lord Baden-Powell:

It is easier to bend a boy than mend a man.

No one can pass through life, any more than he can pass through a bit of country, without leaving tracks behind, and those tracks may often be helpful to those coming after him in finding their way.