We’re trying hard to raise our boys to be men. It seems like it would be natural – let nature take its course, the hormones will kick in, and then suddenly they’re men, right?
But two things work against that. First of all is our culture. We are a feminized culture where defense of the weak is called violence, schools expect nine year old boys to sit quietly in their seats for six hours a day, organized sports for children downplays competition, churches are led by women. On television our boys see men as idiots, husbands as something to tolerate until you can change them, fathers as clueless. In other words, for a man to be accepted in our culture he has to more like….a woman.
The second thing that works against our boys is their own sin nature. It’s hard to step up to the plate, to work until you’re exhausted, to take charge. It’s scary to accept the role of the spiritual head of the home. It’s so much easier to take the quieter road, the passive road, the….feminine road.
To prize manliness goes against our culture, but that’s what we want for our young men. We want them to get dirty, to know how to lead their peers, to accept the roles God has given them. We want them to take responsibility, to try even when they know they will probably fail, to succeed against all odds. We want them to be the boy with his finger in the dike, Horatio on the bridge, Churchill during the London blitz.
Will earning the Eagle Rank guarantee that our boys will be manly men? No, but it’s a great start.
An Eagle Scout
True to his God and his Nation's Flag,
A boy whose loyalties never sag.
An adventurous sort of a rough, tough lad,
He'd share with anyone, all that he had.
He's cheerful and good, and he's filled with fun,
He always helps till the work is done.
No loafer is he, this young man with skill,
With his disciplined heart, mind and will.
He camps and cooks, he hikes and climbs,
He can sing a song or make a verse that rhymes.
He's a splendid youth with a lifetime goal,
He's the type of boy who's in control.
There's no better young man in this great land,
Than an Eagle Scout with a helping hand.
True to his God and his Nation's Flag,
A boy whose loyalties never sag.
An adventurous sort of a rough, tough lad,
He'd share with anyone, all that he had.
He's cheerful and good, and he's filled with fun,
He always helps till the work is done.
No loafer is he, this young man with skill,
With his disciplined heart, mind and will.
He camps and cooks, he hikes and climbs,
He can sing a song or make a verse that rhymes.
He's a splendid youth with a lifetime goal,
He's the type of boy who's in control.
There's no better young man in this great land,
Than an Eagle Scout with a helping hand.
