More than a month ago I went to Boy Scout Troop 3’s Red and White Banquet. It’s an annual dinner and program for the Scouts and their families that celebrates the Troop over the past year. And every year the same thing always amazes me. On the one hand you have a handful of 10- and 11-year-old boys who are new to the Troop. Most have a hard time even sitting still for the brief program. And on the other hand you have the older boys who have been part of Troop 3 for 5 or 6 years. And those older boys used to be just like the younger boys. But over the years the older boys have learned and practices the Scout Law. They have learned and practiced being trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, and cheerful. They have built character. They have become leaders.

And that’s really the point of Scouting, isn’t it? When the days in Scouting come to an end, those qualities don’t come to an end. Rather those young men have had a soul shaped, and they carry those qualities forward into adult life; to school, jobs, marriage, raising a family, being part of a community. The experience in Scouting prepares them for what comes next, whatever comes next.

It’s the same, and even more so, with Christian faith. Jesus has been raised, and so shall we be raised. It’s the victory of God over sin and death for us all. Therefore the lives we build, the way we live, the character we form matters. Life, new life, eternal life, it all matters to God. And that Christian character will somehow be carried forward into eternal life. In the mystery of the resurrection and God’s eternity, we will be personally who we are, just as the risen Christ was personally Jesus. It doesn’t end. The good ways of living the faith will become part of who we will be. Maybe that’s some of what Jesus had in mind when he said “the wise person builds on the rock, and not the sand.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

After All These Years, Still “Building,”
Glenn