I am a man.
We are, and always have been brutish, lazy, lustful gluttons; and lots of other not-so-nice things. It’s how we are wired to survive.
To rise above these natural qualities, we must be taught a code of character that we adopt as more important to us. We must learn respect, honor, discipline, loyalty, courtesy, kindness, perseverance and thrift. We must be taught how our bravery can be used not for violence, but to stand up against the obstacles when the great pursuits get hard and to speak up for what is right and against what is wrong.
Civility and progress is not inherent to man, otherwise, humanity would not have lived in such desperate squalor and violence for many thousands of years.
We must learn and teach good character. Examples of bad character are all around us. Let us not allow them to take us back into desperation.
Talk to your kids.
I always look forward to your posts. This one could not be more appropriate or timely. Thank you!
Very profound and real.
You are spot on! Really, if you think about it, from the vastness of the cosmos to the minuteness of atoms, everything in existence is in perfect working order. Except for man!
A good one Larry!
I agree with your comments 100% and would add two more things we should learn and teach our children-grit and grace. Grit is a lot like perseverance, which you mentioned, but maybe with a little more passion. And, offering others grace is a lot like forgiveness, it allows us to look forward, not backward, so that we can focus on solutions to problems, and not the mistakes that occurred which caused the problems.
Great post. I too am grateful for the Boy Scouts of America, fantastic time in my life and great experience and values I still live by. I continue to enjoy your writing, thank you!
Amen Brother
Proud Eagle Scout here! Most of what I learned in my time with the scouts has built me to be the man I am today.
I too am grateful for the Boy Scouts of America! This is a well thought out post Larry. Thank you for your comments.
I think many of us carry around skills and we Hicks we learned while in the Boy Scouts.
Skills and ethics is how it should read!
Well said.
Love this one!