Appropriate Prayers for Interfaith Scout Services
The Scouting Center (xx348@CLEVELAND.FREENET.EDU)
Wed, 12 Jan 1994 08:55:05 -0500
In response to the letter yesterday on this subject, and since Scout
Sabbath and Scout Sunday are about 1 month away, I am reprinting below some
prayers that we have used on a number of occasions. These were published
by the National Jewish Committee on Scouting, but are appropriate for most
religions.
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The Responsive reading below is based on the Scout Oath used
in the United States (BSA) It could easily be modified for other countries.
The Scout Oath - A Responsive Reading
Leader: Our Honor is a quality we possess because of our dignity as
human beings and children of GOD. Our 'best' means to give all
we have. It means to keep striving to do what we know is right,
and in the Oath it means we will try to be good Scouts by
fulfilling our Scout duties as expressed in the Scout Law.
Cong: ON MY HONOR, I WILL DO MY BEST...
Leader: Our duty to GOD and country means chiefly two things:
obedience and loyalty. The duties we owe to the House of GOD,
and to our country, to parents, to one another, and to ourselves
come from some command of GOD. The Scout Law sums up all the
qualities a Scout should have and without which he can not be a
good Scout.
Cong: TO DO MY DUTY TO GOD AND MY COUNTRY, AND TO OBEY THE SCOUT LAW...
Leader: Our Lord told us that love of our neighbor was like the first law
of love of GOD. The first children of GOD were known by the love
they had for one another. Real human charity or love prompts us
to want to help others at all times. Our Scout training will
give us skills and knowledge that will put us in a better
position to do this.
Cong: TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES...
Leader: Scouting offers us many opportunities to grow strong physically.
To be alert and ready requires us to give special care to those
gifts of soul - intellect and will - that make us unto GOD.
'Morally Straight' means we must try to know what is right and
true, and to love what is good and choose it.
Cong: TO KEEP MYSELF PHYSICALLY STRONG, MENTALLY AWAKE, AND
MORALLY STRAIGHT.
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The following is a responsive reading, using excerpts from the Holy
Scriptures to relate the Scout Law to religious teachings.
THE SCOUT LAW (BSA version)
Leader: The person who is dishonest shall not live in My house;
the person who is untruthful shall not stand before My eyes.
Psalms 101:7
Cong: A SCOUT IS TRUSTWORTHY.
Leader: And Ruth said: 'Do not beg me to leave you or to return from
following after you, for where you go I will go; and where
you stay, I will stay.' Ruth 1:16
Cong: A SCOUT IS LOYAL.
Leader: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Leviticus 19:18
Cong: A SCOUT IS HELPFUL.
Leader: Can two walk together unless they agree? Amos 3:3
Cong: A SCOUT IS FRIENDLY.
Leader: Honor your Father and your Mother. Exodus 20:12
Cong: A SCOUT IS COURTEOUS.
Leader: Withhold not good from the person to whom it is due, when it
is in the power of your hand to do it. Proverbs 3:27
Cong: A SCOUT IS KIND.
Leader: Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words
of knowledge. Proverbs 23:12
Cong: A SCOUT IS OBEDIENT.
Leader: A glad heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22
Cong: A SCOUT IS CHEERFUL.
Leader: Precious treasure remains in a wise person's dwelling, but a
foolish person uses it up. Proverbs 21:20
Cong: A SCOUT IS THRIFTY.
Leader: Be strong and of good courage. I Chronicles 28:20
Cong: A SCOUT IS BRAVE.
Leader: Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord? And who shall
stand in His holy place? The person who has clean hands
and a pure heart. Psalms 24:3-4
Cong: A SCOUT IS CLEAN.
Leader: It has been told to you what is good, and what the Lord
requires of you; Only to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
Cong: A SCOUT IS REVERENT.
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The Hiking Prayer below has been used frequently as a final
benediction to close services. It's one of my favorites. Its message is
one of the most fitting for Scouts in its view of the outdoors. Note that
the author, a Chassidic Rabbi, lived in the 18th and 19th centuries.
A Hiking Prayer
by Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (1722-1811)
Master of the Universe
Grant me the ability to be alone;
May it be my custom to go outdoors each day
Among the trees and grass, among all living things.
And there may I be alone, and enter into prayer,
To talk with the one to whom I belong.
May I express there everything in my heart,
And may all the foliage of the field
(All grasses, trees, and plants)
May they all awake at my coming,
To send the powers of their life into the words of my prayer
So that my prayer and speech are made whole
Through the life and the spirit of all growing things,
Which are made as one by their transcendent source.
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Paul S. Wolf aa854@Cleveland.Freenet.edu
Sysop, The Scouting Center
Greater Cleveland Council, BSA
--
The Scouting Center
A Service of the Greater Cleveland Council
Boy Scouts of America
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