Tireless guardian on our way
Thou has kept us well this day
While we thank thee we request,
Care continued, pardon rest.
Father for this noonday meal
we would speak the praise we feel
Health and strength we have from thee
Help us Lord to faithful be.
Gracious giver of all good
Thee we than for rest and food
Grant that all we do or say
In Thy service be this day
Amen
Father for this noonday meal
We would speak the grace we feel
Health and strength we ask of Thee
Help us Lord to faithful be
Amen
Tireless guardian on our way
Thou hast kept us well this day
While we thank Thee we request
Care continued, pardon, rest
Amen
The lone, wild fowl in lofty flight is still with Thee, nor
leaves Thy sight.
The ends of earth are in Thy hand, the sea's dark deep and no
man's land.
And I am Thine, I rest in Thee.
Great Spirit, come and rest in me. Amen.
I have awakened in Thy shelter, O my God, and it becometh him who awakeneth in That shelter to abide within the sanctuary of Thy protection and the stonghold of Thy defense. Illumine my inner being, O my Lord, even as Thou hast illumined my outer being with the morning light of Thy Favor.
Lord, in the quiet of the evening,
come into our hearts as we liedown to rest,
and help us to know that, in camping outdoors,
we need not fear. You are with us.
(The Outlook, B.C./Yukon)
God, we thank you for this beautiful weekend.
The smiling faces we see and the laughter we hear echoing through
the trees
fill our hearts with gladness and remind us that, in this
fast-paced world of ours,
there are times when we all need to pause and refresh ourselves
in nature's calm and beauty.
from the Baha'i Writings
For the warmth of the fire,
For the joy of singing,
For the laughter of games
For the fun of yells,
For the happiness of campfires shared,
We thank you, God.
"Build me a Scout, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory...
Build me a Scout whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a Scout who himself is the foundation stone of knowledge...
Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail...
Build me a Scout whose heart will be clear, whose goals will be high. A Scout who will master himself before he seeks to master others, one who will march into the future, yet never forget the past...
And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength...
Then I, a Scouter who knew him, will dare to whisper, `I have not lived in vain.'"
O Great Spirit!
Whose voice I hear in the wind, whose breath gives life to the world ... hear me.
I come to you as one of your many children ... I am small and weak, I need your strength and your wisdom.
May I walk in beauty.
Make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset, make my hands respect the things that you have made, and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise, so that I may know the things You have taught your children, in every leaf and rock.
Make me strong, not to be suspect to my brothers but to be able to fight my greatest enemy ... myself.
Make me ever ready to come to You with straight eyes, so, that when life fades, as the faded sunset, my spirit will come to You without shame.
[found on the wall of an old Inn in Lancashire, England]
Give us, Lord, a bit o' sun
a bit o' work and a bit o' fun;
give us all in th' struggle and splutter
our daily bread and a bit o' butter.
Give us health, our keep to make
an' a bit to spare for poor folks sake;
give us sense, for we're some of us duffers,
an' a heart to feel for all that suffers.
Give us, too, a bit of a song,
an' a tale, and a book to help us along,
an' give us our share o' sorrow's lesson
that we may prove how grief's a blessing.
Give us, Lord, a chance to be
our goodly best, brave, wise and free,
our goodly best for ourselves and others
till all men learn to live as brothers.
Amen.
Oh, Great Spirit,
whose voice I hear in the winds and whose breath gives life to
all the world,
hear me.
I come before you,
one of your many children.
I am weak and small.
I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold the red and
purple sunset;
my ears sharp so I may hear your voice.
Make me wise, so I may learn the things you have taught my
people,
the lessons you have hidden under every rock and leaf.
I seek strength, not to be superior to my brothers,
but to be able to fight my greatest enemy--myself.
Make me ever ready to come to you with clean hands and
straight eyes,
so whenever life fades, like the fading sunset, my spirit will
come to you without shame.
Morning star wake us, filled with joy
To new days of growing to man from boy.
Sun, with your power, give us light
That we can tell wrong and do what's right.
South wind, we ask, in your gentle way
Blow us the willingness to obey.
North wind, we ask, live up to thy name,
Send us the strength to always be game.
East wind, we ask, with your breath so snappy,
Fill us with knowledge of how to be happy.
West wind, we ask, blow all that is fair
To us, that we may always be square.
Moon, that fills the night with red light,
guard us well while we sleep in the night.
Akela, please guide us in every way,
We'll follow your trail in work or play.
I am only one person, so I can't change everything in this
world.
But, I am one person and I can change some things.
O God, Creator of lakes and dunes
Help us to feel your spirit
In the beauty of nature around us:
Make us calm and,
In the quiet, speak to us:
Help us to listen;
We have so much to learn from you
And also from one another:
Help us to share
Our plans and our decisions,
Our dreams and expectations:
Help us to celebrate
Your presence among us,
And to work together in your name.
(Martha Koenig, from United Church Camping, Spring '85)
Dear God,
Help us to carry your spirit in our lives, that we may share it
with others by living it ourselves.
Help us to offer all that we have and are in your service.
And help us to live the spirit of Scouting so the spirit will
live on through us.
(From "A Memorial to a Scouter". by Laird Vanni )
"Great Spirit, whose tepee is the sky and whose hunting
ground is the earth,
Mighty and fearful are you called.
Ruler over storms, over men and birds and beasts,
Have your way over all,
Over earthways as over skyways.
Find us this day our meat and corn,
That we may be strong and brave.
And put aside from us our wicked ways as we put aside the bad
works of them who do us wrong.
And let us not have such troubles as lead us into crooked roads,
But keep us from all evil,
For yours is all that is the earth and the sky;
the streams, the hills and the valleys, the stars, the moon,
and the sun, and all that live and breathe.
Wonderful, shining, mighty Spirit."
Arthur F. Giere
When you walk through the woods,
I want you to see ...
The floating gold of a bumble bee,
Rivers of sunlight, pools of shade
Toadstools sleeping in mossy jade
A cobweb net with a catch of dew
Treetop cones against the blue
Dancing flowers, bright green flies
And birds that put rainbows in your eyes.
When you walk through the woods,
I want you to hear ...
A million sounds in your eager ear
The scratch and rattle of wind-tossed trees
The rush as a timid chipmunk flees
The cry of a hawk from the distant sky
The purr of leaves when a breeze rolls by
Brooks that mumble, stones that ring
And birds that teach your heart to sing.
When you walk through the woods,
I want you to feel ...
That no mere human could make this real
Could paint the throb of a bullerfly's wing
Could teach a wood thrush how to sing
Could create these wonders of earth and sky
There's something greater than you or I.
When you walk through the woods
and the birches nod
Please, meet a friend of mine named God.
Put me in touch with the heart of a boy,
Let me study his doubts and his fears.
Let me try to show him the way of life
And help him avoid its tears.
For the heart of a boy in its buoyancy,
Is one that is pure and free;
So put me in touch with the heart of a boy,
The heart of the man to be.
(from Pictou County District Council, N.S.)
O Lord, this solemn prayer comes from deep desire,
May my life be as pure as candle fire.
Let my every breath dispel the world's gloom,
Let my spirit glow so brightly that darkness meets its doom.
May my life enhance my country's glory
As the flower enhances the garden's splendid revelry.
May I be as faithfully drawn to learning
As the moth is drawn to the candle's burning.
May my life be devoted to serving the needy
And to loving a sorrowful, ever suffering humanity.
Lead me away from the path of temptation.
O Lord, let truth alone be my destination.
The Hiking Prayer has been used frequently as a final benediction to close services. 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.
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.
May the Lord bless thee and keep thee; may He show His face to thee and have mercy upon thee; may He turn His countenance to thee, and give thee peace. May the Lord bless thee. Amen.
May you walk in Peace,
Live with Love,
work with Joy,
and May Your God go with you.
May you sleep deep and wake refreshed,
With the sun shining down on you and a happy heart.
May the Lord watch between me and thee,
While we are absent from one another.
The Lord bless you and keep you,
The Lord make His face to shine upon you,
And give you peace.
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind always be at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rain fall soft upon your friends,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
May the great Scoutmaster of all true Scouts
Be with us until we meet again.
May we all remain fast and firm in faith, that the glory of
glories may rest upon us.
Thou art the Gracious, the Bountiful, the Merciful, the
Compassionate.
from the Baha'i Writings