PRAYERS AND POEMS FOR SCOUTERS

The Greatest Collection

Cub Scout Roundtable Planning Guide

We give thanks for the greatest collection that is on display tonight at our Roundtable, the collection of beautiful smiles on the faces of all our leaders.  We each have wonderful things to smile about, and we all give thanks for that.  Amen

Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation

Abraham Lincoln, October 3, 1863

From Circle Ten Council’s Pow Wow Book

It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence
upon the over-ruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions
in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead
to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the
Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed
whose God is the Lord.  We know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world.

May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land. May be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people.

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But, we have
forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved
us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we
have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these
blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient
to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud
to pray to the God that made us. It has seemed to me fit and proper
that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged,
as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people.

I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the
United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are
sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last
Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to
our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. 

Abraham Lincoln, October 3, 1863

The Scouter' s Prayer

Connecticut Rivers Council

 Dear Lord, from your judgment seat on high,

Look down on a Scouter such as I.

Search me through and find me whole,

Then help me Lord to reach my goal.

Help me Lord to work for Thee,

Guard my homeland - Keep it free

Help me to work with others and be kind,

Helpful with my hands and mind.

Keep me Lord, both well and strong

To help our growing boys along.

Control my thoughts, keep them right, sound, clean weapons for life's fight.

Protect my morals, keep them high,

Grant this to a Scouter such as I.

I really thought this next one was great – How many times have we seen someone anxious to have his son be the first presented with an award cut some corners  -

To desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly - Confucius

TWC from Troop 151 in Texas made this statement on our Philmont discussion list and it bears repeating for everyone.   

The extra knowledge doesn't weigh a thing.

I know I have learned many things that I wondered if I ever would use and any years down the road I was glad I did.

I have seen this come true at many Pack  Shows where the Cubmaster thought he was the show, not the boy. - 

The minute a man is convinced that he is interesting,

he isn't.  Steven Leacock

Smiles

Capitol District

Baltimore Area Council

Marcia, their RT Commissioner, forwarded this to me and suggested I should recommend we all collect Smiles.  I think that is a great idea!!!  CD

Smiling is infectious,

You catch it like the flu.

When someone smiled at me today,

I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner,

And someone saw my grin.

When he smiled I realized,

I'd passed it on to him.

I   thought about that smile,

Then I realized its worth.

A single smile just like mine,

Could travel the earth.

So, if you feel a smile begin,

Don't leave it undetected.

Let's start an epidemic quick,

And get the world infected!

Human Gadgets

Connecticut Rivers Council

We all have a place in the world it is said

An some are the leaders and some are the led

We all are parts of a great big machine

Where wheels great and small work with pieces unseen

Consider your watch…which part would you choose

As the most necessary bearings, the large cog, the small…

Which one makes it go?? Which part most of all??

Take your car… …the spring or the screws

The nuts or the Could you do without the wheels, without tires?

The batteries, magneto, the spark plugs, the wires?

If you’d take off the steering wheel, take off the clutch

Or remove all the brakes…would it then be worth much??

No, the greatest fly-wheel could not spin without grease

And it’s held in place by one small piece

So don’t be dismayed when you seem in a rut

You’re important…though you may be only a NUT