Scoutmaster Minute, 27 April 2021

Chemlights have been around since the 1960s.  They usually consist of a plastic tube containing a glass ampule of hydrogen peroxide surrounded by another mixture of oxalate ester and a dye.  By folding the plastic tube, the glass ampule is broken and the peroxide mixes with oxalate ester.  This causes a chemiluminescent reaction.  Molecules rapidly decay in the reaction and give off energy as light.

 

Chemlights have a variety of applications, but they are best appreciated by motorists and the military.  Motorists use them in place of highway flares, since they do not present the fire hazard flares do.  On the highway, chemlights can steer people away from disabled vehicles or other roadside hazards.

 

The military uses them because their light is more subdued, making them compatible with the light-discipline exercised in military operations.  Most Soldiers probably remember chemlights being used at night to mark landing zones for aircraft, to mark turnoffs for road convoys, or to guide the way through concertina wire to a command post.  The direction they provide could save life and limb.

 

Chemlights do have some drawbacks, however.  First, they can only be used once.  Another drawback is that chemlights only last a few hours.  Yet the light they give in that short and critical time may prevent deadly disasters if used where they are needed most.  Though their light remains for a brief moment, they may prevent life-long injuries and even death.

 

This parallels the temporary things of this life – our time and resources.  Like chemlights, our lives, time, and possessions have only a one-time-use.  We will all leave our money, titles, and possessions behind when we die. And neither our lives nor our possessions last very long. Yet, if we use them for the right purpose, they can take on eternal significance.

 

A chemlight or glowstick can be used merely as a toy, robbing it of all significance; or a chemlight can be used to save lives, making its importance profound.  Likewise, how we spend our time can be solely on selfish gratification and entertainment, or it can be used to give service to others, better our environment, and make a real and meaningful impact.  Choose wisely the use of your time.

 

Do a Good Turn Daily.

(Borrowed heavily from a devotional of a friend, Chaplain Dave Causey)

Scoutmaster Minute – 6 APR 21

The following is paraphrased from a pastor and a former colleague:

 

Andrea Lessing recently got a job at the Goodwill store in Norman, Oklahoma so she could take care of herself and her young daughter.  On March 26, 2021 while sorting some newly donated merchandise, Andrea came across two sweaters tied up together.  As she examined the bundle, she first believed they were wrapped around some books.  Yet, as she unwrapped them, the "books" turned out to stacks of $100 bills – 420 of them. Someone had mistakenly donated $42,000.

 

Did Andrea view this discovery as a long-awaited pay off, a bit of good fortune?   No.  Didn't she think of how that money might benefit her and her daughter?  Probably.  It was more money than she'd ever seen before.

 

Yet when she thought of her little girl, she asked herself, "How can I face my daughter if I steal this money?"  She realized there are far better things than dishonest gain that a mother can leave to her child.  Of greater importance than money are love and a good example of how to live.  To that end, Andrea chose to do the right thing – return the money to its rightful owner.

 

Andrea turned the money over to her supervisors.  Using documentation assigned to the donation, the supervisors contacted the donor and returned the $42,000.  The donor gave Andrea a $1,000 reward for her honesty.  A regional manager for Goodwill Industries presented the reward to her and thanked her for her honesty.

 

What would you do if presented with the same dilemma?  Would you keep the money or would you return it to the rightful owner?  Could you live with the thoughts of your unearned gain, faced with the probability that the money might be someone else's life savings?  Fortunately, there are still many good, caring, and honest people out there who are ruled by their conscience rather than their appetites and greed.  May God bless them and increase their numbers.

 

A Scout is Trustworthy.