This week has quite a few holidays and holy days.
Today is Lunar New Year, which marks the beginning of a new year on the lunar calendar. In many Asian cultures Lunar New Year is a celebration of of welcoming in the new year, luck and prosperity and spending time with family.
Tomorrow Wednesday February 18th is the first day of Ramadan. Ramadan is a month-long spiritual practice of fasting during daylight hours, spending extra time reading the Qur'an, reciting special prayers, cultivating gratitude and compassion for those less fortunate. During the month the focus is on spiritual growth, strengthening faith, practicing patience, breaking bad habits, spending time with community and family.
Tomorrow is also Ash Wednesday, which marks a 40 day period of spiritual renewal for those of the Christian faith. People often spend the period of 40 days fasting or giving something up during the season of Lent in which people spend time in spiritual reflection, and repentance.
As we enter into this time of year of spiritual renewal and physical renewal. The season of spring will bring new physical growth. Take a moment to express gratitude and thankfulness for the people in your life and the bounty of nature around you.
A Scout is Reverent.
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Scoutmaster Minute— February 10, 2026
A scout is helpful. As scouts we serve our country as well as the community we live in. We develop the habit of helpfulness to where it becomes second nature. When you see a need you step right in and help. Helping others becomes instinctual.
What happens when you are the one that needs help?
My personal response 90% of the time when someone offers help to me is "No, it's ok I've got it" because I have internalized receiving help as a sign of weakness and incompetence. If I can't manage to do this by myself there must be something wrong with me. I have personally failed somehow.
Let me tell you how wrong I am.
After my spinal surgery I have found myself asking for help more in the last 8 weeks then I have in my 43 years of existence. There is a breadth and depth to the help I have asked for to which I never thought was possible. I drop medication on the floor I ask for help to pick it up so that Letty and Sprinkles don't eat it. At the grocery store I have asked complete strangers if they are able to help me get items off low shelves. I have asked family and friends to help out with household duties. Professionally I'm asking my clients for patience as a slowly get back into the groove of working. After having major surgery I don't have the physical endurance or capabilities I had prior to surgery. Here at scouts I ask for Adult Scouters to help cover my responsibilities of mentoring, Scoutmaster minutes, camping, etc. In every part of my life and in my day I am asking for help.
It's not a sign of weakness to realize you need help. It is brave, to be vulnerable, to open yourself up to receive help. It's brave to say I can't do this all by myself.
Receiving help allows you to stay physically strong and mentally awake. You help yourself by asking someone to help you carry a heavy load rather than injuring your body. You preserve your mental energy by asking for help when you get stuck on a math problem.
The next time you find yourself getting struggling to carry something heavy, getting frustrated at homework, infuriated trying to tie a knot. Be BRAVE! Ask for help. You're not in this life alone. Look to the left, look to the right and look across the room, you have people in your life that are here to help you and support you in this life's journey.
A scout is helpful.
A scout is brave.
What happens when you are the one that needs help?
My personal response 90% of the time when someone offers help to me is "No, it's ok I've got it" because I have internalized receiving help as a sign of weakness and incompetence. If I can't manage to do this by myself there must be something wrong with me. I have personally failed somehow.
Let me tell you how wrong I am.
After my spinal surgery I have found myself asking for help more in the last 8 weeks then I have in my 43 years of existence. There is a breadth and depth to the help I have asked for to which I never thought was possible. I drop medication on the floor I ask for help to pick it up so that Letty and Sprinkles don't eat it. At the grocery store I have asked complete strangers if they are able to help me get items off low shelves. I have asked family and friends to help out with household duties. Professionally I'm asking my clients for patience as a slowly get back into the groove of working. After having major surgery I don't have the physical endurance or capabilities I had prior to surgery. Here at scouts I ask for Adult Scouters to help cover my responsibilities of mentoring, Scoutmaster minutes, camping, etc. In every part of my life and in my day I am asking for help.
It's not a sign of weakness to realize you need help. It is brave, to be vulnerable, to open yourself up to receive help. It's brave to say I can't do this all by myself.
Receiving help allows you to stay physically strong and mentally awake. You help yourself by asking someone to help you carry a heavy load rather than injuring your body. You preserve your mental energy by asking for help when you get stuck on a math problem.
The next time you find yourself getting struggling to carry something heavy, getting frustrated at homework, infuriated trying to tie a knot. Be BRAVE! Ask for help. You're not in this life alone. Look to the left, look to the right and look across the room, you have people in your life that are here to help you and support you in this life's journey.
A scout is helpful.
A scout is brave.
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
Scoutmaster Minute, 3 February 2026
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves, no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
As many of you know, this is The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.
Often in life we face choices of which direction to take. Occasionally those choices diverge from the path others have taken. Sometimes this is not just in a physical realm. Sometimes these are decisions tied to personal moral dilemmas. Moral dilemmas demand a moral compass. This moral compass contains pieces and parts of our Scout Oath and Law. It provides the azimuth, which is often not the path that others are taking. Do not let the Scout Oath and Law be meaningless words. Reflect on their meaning and live your life accordingly. As such, I challenge you to let your morals be your guide instead of merely following the paths of others.
I will keep myself morally straight.
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves, no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
As many of you know, this is The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.
Often in life we face choices of which direction to take. Occasionally those choices diverge from the path others have taken. Sometimes this is not just in a physical realm. Sometimes these are decisions tied to personal moral dilemmas. Moral dilemmas demand a moral compass. This moral compass contains pieces and parts of our Scout Oath and Law. It provides the azimuth, which is often not the path that others are taking. Do not let the Scout Oath and Law be meaningless words. Reflect on their meaning and live your life accordingly. As such, I challenge you to let your morals be your guide instead of merely following the paths of others.
I will keep myself morally straight.
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