I AM
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                  I am the whisper in the top of the oak and pine.

                                                                  I am the first curl of smoke of a campfire.

                                                                  I am the crunch of gravel under a hiking boot.

                                                                  I am the splash of light on a canoe paddle.


                                                                  I have walked the surface of the Moon.

                                                                  I have worked in the Oval Office.

                                                                  I have heard the call of the Eagle.

                                                                  I have breathed life into another's lungs.


                                                                  My honor hovers over Arlington and The Tomb.

                                                                  My courage has been tested in battle, flood, fire and storm.

                                                                  My skills are basic and have prepared many for life and service.

                                                                  My vision is clear and undimmed by the passage of time.

                                                                                                                                                     
                                                                  You can see me in parents' pride-filled eyes at a court-of-honor.

                                                                  You can smell me in a cup of fire-brewed coffee.

                                                                  You can hear me in the silence of snow-covered forest.

                                                                  You can fell me, carefully, on the edge of a fresh-sharpener ax.


                                                                  I have been told of your past by my kindred.

                                                                  I walk and breathe in the present.

                                                                  I can only dream of your tomorrows.

                                                                  I am .. the Scouting Spirit .. pass me on...

       
                                                                                                                                                    James A. DeReign
                                                                                                                                                    Philmont Scout Ranch
                                                                                                                                                                          10/14/85