Morally Straight

“Give it everything you have, heart and soul. Make sure you carry out The Revelation that Moses commanded you, every bit of it. Don’t get off track, either left or right, so as to make sure you get to where you’re going. And don’t for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed.”
(Joshua 1:7–8, The Message)

I earned my Eagle Scout award in 1984. I was involved in local Troop 282 in Texas City, Texas as a boy. I attended Summer Camp at Camp Karankawa in Sweeny, Texas every summer. As a young adult, I helped lead other young men as an Assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 282, as well as Program Director of the same camp I attended for years.

I learned the values taught in the Scout Law:

A Scout is:
Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful,
Friendly, Courteous, Kind,
Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty,
Brave, Clean, Reverent

I also learned to abide by the Scout Oath:

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

Inherent in that oath, was the idea that there was a moral code to follow. This moral code is defined in Joshua as the Word of God, what we know now as the Bible. When one reads the Bible, it will help a person keep their morality on a straight path. When one discovers the nature of sin, and the Person who redeems us from sin (Jesus Christ), and the way to overcome sin (by following the Holy Spirit, obeying the Bible), one will learn how to be “morally straight”.

Lord Robert Baden-Powell knew this code when he started the Scouting movement in 1910. The Boy Scouts has seen many changes in the past hundred years. However, what should not change how Scouts follow the Scout Oath, especially the fact that as a whole Scouting should be morally straight.