Two years ago the theme of our wilderness survival weekend was, “where to find clean water in a survival situation”. In preparation for that campout I read a book that became one of my favorite books. Its title is, “The secret knowledge of water: there are two ways to die in the desert: dehydration and drowning”. This book was written by a Craig Childs who has spent his entire adult life wondering the America Southwest and learning about the desert and the Anasazi people who lived there. The Anasazi culture disappeared 600-1000 years ago, and Childs describes his search for evidence of these people in a book called, “The House of Rain”. In reading these books and others about the Anasazi, I was reminded of a scout master minute that relates to our court of honor today—I have modified it from the version found on the website boyscouttrail.com.
In an ancient Anasazi village one of the rights of passage for young boys to become warriors was for the young boys to walk across the desert and climb the Great Mountain—all alone. The village was on a wide open desert in the American Southwest, and the Great Mountain was about 10 miles away and towered above the desert floor.
Every year the Chief of this village would gather all the 11-12 year old boys and give them this instruction, “It is time for you to climb the Great Mountain. At sunrise tomorrow leave camp and walk as far as you can toward the Great Mountain. When you have gone as far as you can possibly travel in one direction, stop and pick a twig off of a tree growing in this place. Then come back to the village and give that twig to me.” The next morning at sunrise, each of the young scouts left the village—each boy was full of hope and each one was certain that he could reach the top of the Great Mountain.
At noon the first boy returned slowly back to the village kicking sand with every step, and in his hand he held a leaf of cactus. He held it out to the Chief. The Chief smiled and said, “The desert floor is a difficult place to travel, and you have attempted to cross it–you nearly made it to the foot of the mountain.”
Shortly thereafter, a second boy returned. He carried a twig of sagebrush. “Well,” said the Chief, “You crossed the desert and approached the mountain’s foot, but you didn’t begin the assent.”
The next boy had a cottonwood sprig. “Good”, said the Chief, “You got as far as the clear springs where the cottonwoods grow. The cottonwood trees tell us that ground water is not more than 10 feet below the surface, and at night the cottonwood returns the water to aquifer and the water comes closer to the surface. This is a good place to camp.
Another scout came later with some buckthorn. The Chief smiled when he saw it and said: “You obviously crossed the great desert and began to climb the Great Mountain.”
Late in the afternoon, another boy arrived with a cedar sprig, and the old man said, “Well done. You went half way up the mountain and reached the forest.”
Before sunset, another boy came came back holding a switch of pine. The Chief said, “You made it to the high forest; this is a tough climb and you made it three quarters of the way to the top of the Great Mountain. This is where you find the scree pile, or talus, that comprises the first rock slide near the top of the Great Mountain.”
The sun had set and the old Chief sat patiently by the camp fire waiting for the last boy to return. As midnight approached, the last boy walked into the village. He went up to greet the Chief but his hands were empty. The other Indian boys began to laugh and tease the boy saying he did not even try to climb the mountain.
The boy’s face was radiant, as he spoke to the chief, He said, “Chief, at the point that I turned around to return to the village, there were no trees, and therefore there were no twigs for me to pick. But from this point I could see the ocean and I watched the most magnificent sunset I had ever seen. Just as the sun dropped below the horizon a green light flashed through the ocean water and the sky turned a brilliant orange.”
The old man’s face glowed, as he said aloud and almost sang: “You have been to the top of the Great Mountain above the tree line. It is written in your eyes, and it rings in your voice. My boy, you have seen the glory of the mountain and witnessed the gifts of its height–you need no twigs for proof.”
The badges we wear are icons, or symbols, of our accomplishments—they are not the accomplishment itself. You can go down to the scout shop and for about $30 you buy a full set of the merit badges that you need for the rank of Eagle Scout. Without the journey to the rank of Eagle the badges are worthless. If you get to the top and you see the sunset over the ocean, you don’t need the patch, or the twig. It is the determination and the journey that are your reward. Don’t short change yourself and turn back at the at the base of the mountain, go the distance and witness the beauty in all that you attempt.
