The old knights were very religious. They were always careful to attend religious service, especially before going into battle or undertaking any serious difficulty. They considered it the right thing always to be prepared for death. Besides worshipping God in church, the knights always recognized His work in the things which He made, such as animals, plants, and all nature.
And so it is with peace scouts today. Wherever they go they love the woodlands, the mountains, and the prairies, and they like to watch and know about the animals that inhabit them, and the wonders of the flowers and plants.
No man is much good unless he believes in God and obeys His laws. So every Scout should have a religion.
Religion seems a very simple thing:
First:
In doing your duty to Cod always be grateful to him. Whenever you enjoy a pleasure or a good game, or succeed in doing a good thing, thank Him for it, if only with a word or two, just as you say grace at a meal. And it is a good thing to bless other people. For
instance, it you see a train starting off, just pray for God’s blessing on all that are in the train.
In doing your duty towards man, be helpful and generous, and also always be grateful for any kindness done to you, and be careful to show that you are grateful. Remember again that a present given to you is not yours until you have thanked the giver for it.
While you are living your life on this earth, try to do something good which may remain after you.
One writer says: “I often think that when the sun goes down the world is hidden by a big blanket from the light of heaven, but the stars are little holes pierced in that blanket by those who have done good deeds in this world. The stars are not all the same size; some are big, some are little, and some men have done great deeds and others have done small deeds, but they have made their hole in the blanket by doing good before they went to heaven.”
Try and make your hole in the blanket by good work while you are on the earth.
It is something to be good, but it is far better to do good.
A Scout is active in DOING GOOD, not passive in BEING GOOD. It is his duty to be helpful and generous to other people.
Thrift
It is a funny thing that out of you boys who now read these words, some are certain to become rich men, and some may die in poverty and misery. It pretty well depends on your own selves which you are going to do.
And you can very soon tell which your future is going to be.
The fellow who begins making money as a boy will go on making it as a man. You may find it difficult to do it at first, but it will come easier later on. If you begin and go on, remember, you are pretty certain to succeed in the end—especially if you get your money by hard work.
There are many ways in which a boy can earn money—from painting a fence and tending a garden to running errands.
If you only try to make it by easy means—that is by betting, say on a horse race—you are bound to lose after a time. Nobody who makes bets ever wins in the end; it is the book-maker, the man who receives the bets, who scores. Yet there are thousands of fools who go on putting their money on, because they won a bit once or hope to win some day.
Any number of poor boys have become rich men. But in nearly every case it was because they meant to do so from the first. They worked for it, and put every penny they could make into the bank to begin with. So each one of you has the chance, if you like to take it. The knights of old were ordered by their rules to be thrifty, not to expend large sums on their own enjoyment, but to save it in order that they might keep themselves, and not be a burden to others, and also so that they might have more to give away in charity. If they had no money of their own, they were not allowed to beg for it, but had to work and make it in one way or another. Thus money-making goes with manliness, hard work, and sobriety.
How Scouts Make Money
