Monday, April 30, 2012

Good, God, and Girl Scouts

I sit at my window at the end of every day, looking out upon the water;
Today there's a sunset Coast Guard rescue happening in the harbor.
The sun and my thoughts become most brilliant before they slip away into dark;
What energy have I put into the world that I leave to my son and daughter?

I remember, as a Girl Scout, feeling weepy when we sang at taps,
Not because the day was going, but because of the intensity
Of  the unbelievable emotion that threatened to overwhelm me,
And at the glory of being allowed to experience such great majesty.

What beautiful lessons we learned by living in the arms of nature;
We celebrated the sunrise with reveille, a bugle call to embrace life,
And we raised the flag to celebrate our birth into a land of freedom.
We learned of responsibility; that I am the next generation's midwife.

"On my honor, I will try, to do my duty to God and to my country,
To help other people, at all times, and to obey the Girl Scout laws."
We were also taught to leave everywhere better than when we came;
These are lessons that, I'm happy to say, still give me pause.

What if we each took these old Girl Scout lessons to heart?
What if we each believed that we are to give more than we take?
What if we paused at sunrise and at sunset for wonder and gratitude?
Would we then be willing to, our intense hurry and our greed, forsake?