February 5, 2006

This weekend we celebrate Scouting Sunday.  Boy Scouts were officially organized in 1910 here in the United States.  Girl Scouts followed in 1912.  Both groups have proven to be a tremendous asset to the American society and culture.  The following story is worth our consideration when we see what one good turn can do.  When we feel that we cannot influence the evil, greed and corruption in the world, we should remember this story rather than despair.  If all Christians would take their commitment to Christianity this seriously we could literally move mountains.

One day in 1909 in London, England, an American visitor, William D. Boyce, lost his way in dense fog.  He stopped under a street lamp and tried to figure out where he was.

A boy with a lantern approached him and asked if he could be of help.

“You certainly can,” said Boyce.  He told the boy that he wanted to find a certain business office in the center of the city.

“I’ll take you there,” said the boy.

When they got to the destination, Mr. Boyce reached into his pocket for a tip.

But the boy stopped him.  “No thank you, sir. I am a Scout.  I won’t take anything for helping.”

A Scout?  And what might that be?”  Asked Boyce.

The boy told the American about himself and about his brother scouts.  Boyce became interested.

After finishing his errand, he had the boy take him to the British Scouting office.

At the office, Boyce met Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the British general who had founded the Scouting movement in Great Britain.  

Boyce was so impressed with what he learned that he decided to bring Scouting home with him.

On Feb. 8, 1910, Boyce and a group of outstanding leaders founded the Boy Scouts of America.  From that day forth, Scouts have celebrated Feb. 8 as the birthday of Scouting in the US.

What happened to the boy who helped Mr. Boyce find his way?  No one knows.  He had neither asked for money nor given his name, but he will never be forgotten.  His Good Turn helped bring the scouting movement to our country.  In the British Scout Training Center at Gilwell Park, England, Scouts from the US erected a statue of an American Buffalo in honor of this unknown scout.  One Good Turn to one man became a Good Turn to millions of Americans.  Such is the power of a Good Turn.  As Christians, are we up to such a challenge?