While camping, we learn and practice ‘Leave No Trace’. We try to have as little impact on our environment as possible so others can enjoy them in the future. However, as hard as we try, we still leave a trace, even if it’s just some matted down grass or a broken twig.

The same holds true for the rest of life. Everywhere you go, everyone you meet, and everything you do leaves a trace. The question becomes what kind and how big of a trace will you leave?  If you are not kind to someone then that trace you left could take some time to heal.  If you lift someone’s spirits with a friendship, or by helping, then that can leave a trace that makes a positive lasting impact.

You may interact with a stranger for only a couple seconds or with your friends for a couple hours, but no matter what, you leave a trace. It’s up to you whether that trace that makes the world a worse or better place.  You may not think a simple ‘Hello’, ‘Thank You’ or even a friendly smile really makes any difference – but it does!

So, now the question comes to you.  What kind of trace in life will you leave?

Campout this weekend, and no surprise, it might rain.

The humorist Dave Barry said “It always rains on tents.  Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent”

So, here we are, camping, maybe in the rain.  The scout motto is “Be Prepared” if we do a good job preparing for the weather, we can still be cheerful in the rain.

This relates well to life.  It isn’t always sunny, but if we remember the scout motto relates to more than camping and we do a good job preparing for any potential problems, we can still be cheerful when things aren’t as smooth as we’d like in life.

Between Troops, Crews, Packs, Teams, Ships, Posts, and even Labs; there are about 3 million people currently registered on the Boy Scouts of America. While that may sound like a lot of people, it is less than one percent of the population of this country.

The World Scouting Organization estimates there are about 28 million people involved in Scouting around the globe.  That equals about 1/3 of one percent of the Earth’s population.

Suffice to say, we are part of a small group no matter how you look at it.

With that in mind, I have a great quote for you guys to take with you and think about this week:

From American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead:

“Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world; indeed, they’re the only people who ever have.”

A little more than a minute tonight, but it is worth it.

The Voyager 1 Spacecraft was launched in 1977 to take pictures of Jupiter, Saturn and Titan.  As it was leaving our inner Solar System in 1990, (at the request of Carl Sagan) NASA had it turn around and take a photo of earth from this great distance.  The photo you have in your hand is a small print of this photo.

And yes, that tiny light blue smudge is Earth.

Sagan shared the image during a public lecture at Cornell University in 1994, and gave a speech sharing his reflections on the image.

For the last Earth Day-ish meeting, let’s listen to the short speech.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5khU_6o7lc