So, while walking around today, and thinking of an entry for this evening, I thought about some images of the word "inventory" that I want to share with all of you. This becomes important as we move into the "What Is the Cost of Scouting" phase of our yearly cycle...some of your Councils are starting their Friends of Scouting campaigns and others will be starting it the first part of next month.

Yesterday and today I have been in Chicago -- Forest Park -- in my new job as Commander of a public affairs operations center. One of the first things that a new military commander has to do is to conduct what is called a "change of command inventory."

In this inventory, the supply personnel brings out every piece of furniture, equipment and machinery that you will eventually sign for and become responsible for....you need to see it all, examine it and determine if everything is there. Once you've signed and said "it's all there" you become responsible for literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment.

In my case, the total comes to close to three million dollars' worth.

So the process is tedious, with binders of papers outlining everything I've got in five rooms, in a motor pool and off-site at three locations. Much of this now is automated, so there is less of the "show me the socket wrench" because the socket wrenches are now held by people who know the difference between it and a spanner wrench.

So, while walking around today, and thinking of an entry for this evening, I thought about some images of the word "inventory" that I want to share with all of you. This becomes important as we move into the "What Is the Cost of Scouting" phase of our yearly cycle...some of your Councils are starting their Friends of Scouting campaigns and others will be starting it the first part of next month.

Inventory.

0f course, there's the personal inventory we take each day. I am almost drawn to tears when I see the family members of those who lost a loved one in New York, or Virginia or Pennsyvania explain to us what we already know: life is short, life is unexpectantly short, and we don't know when our life would come to an end.

My grandmother -- we call her "Big Mom", as many Black families bestow their eldest mother in their family with that title -- is dying. I am leaving here in the morning to visit with an Army Reserve unit and then to visit with my grandmother, cooling her jets in a hospice, complaining to the people that they don't know how to cook collard greens or that there's no fatback in the greens, or that the potatos don't have enough salt in them, or that the tea is like water. She has high blood pressure and diabetes....and still lives, even with pain, as if she did not have either dire disease.

This is the time of year we perform a financial inventory. The official term is "filing our federal and state and in some cases city income taxes." The forms are already somewhere in our homes, sent to us through the postal system. The Internal Revenue Service again stresses to file early, file electronically, and file.

This requires us to find those receipts, to document our travel and our phone calls and our faxes and the cost of that extra triple latte with cinnamon sprinkles we had as a business lunch (ever have one?? It COULD BE a lunch! *smiling*) and to put it all down on paper or in electrons and send it away. Will we get more or less money this year?? Will we do it honestly or will we take "short cuts" and "round off" and "estimate?"

Martin Luther King Day is Monday. The "black holiday",
some people call it...but is it really?? King was a national leader -- a leader of both black and white people and those in-between. Do you realize how hard it is to get someone to appeal to many segments of American society today?? In order for someone to appeal to everyone, he has to be approachable to everyone.

King's appeal, beside the fact that he stood for social change and justice for the laborer and the farmer; the businesmen and the politicians, was that he grew up like many of us. His parents were not rich. He did not get to go to the best schools, nor did he enjoy the life of confort. His life, like many of ours today, is one of struggle. He was able, through the principles of faith and with encouragement from others, to make a difference. How many people would risk being shot, bitten by dogs, hit with lead piping, and pelted by bricks, rocks and anything else which could be thrown at you...only to go home, get up the next morning, drive to another place and have all of that happen to you -- and those with you -- again and again?

"Take stock," he said one time in a speech, "Count your blessings, as in the old song. And realize what truly God has given to you. And then use it."

I am one of many, one of a few.

Scouting -- the three programs of Scouting -- have a lot to do with those things I talked about. Scouting is about reverence for others and self. About doing the right things for the right reasons. Of being brave and cheerful and kind, even when you don't feel like it. Or when you need to be brave for others. It's about trust -- in yourself, in other people, in the nation we live in. It's about loyality to those who care about you and who you truly care about and for. And it's about strenght -- in personal character and fitness. Those things which will get you through the roughest of nights and longest of days.

What impact does this have on money I use to support Scouting?? A lot. Your money continues the drive to develop youth into responsible, strong citizens of quality character.

"But I don't like what the Boy Scouts is about today." Fine. Then don't give to the national organization -- find a Cub Scout Pack, or a Boy Scout Troop or Venturing Crew or Sea Scout Ship and assist them financially.

"I don't have any money to give them, what can I do??" You can give your time. You can teach a Cub Scout Den a new song. Or you can provide transportation for a Troop or Team to get to an outdoor activity and back home again. Or you can teach a skill or hobby to a Venturing Crew. You don't have to know how to rub sticks together; nor do you need to know how to set up a tent or take a compass azmuth. But we could use your help, even for as little as a hour a week.

"I want to involve my entire family in Scouts" Good. Do so. Scouting is always been and will always continue to be a family program....a family of
families. We want families involved because it builds confidence in the unit leader's ability to do well. It helps to make Scouting work a bit better. Most of all, it proves that Scouting isn't just for the rich and bored -- it is for every family who wants to do more than sit and watch television or are stuck playing the same computer games over and over again.

Take inventory. This is the time to do so, while it's still relatively cool and calm. Share those blessings with others and do it soon. The next day, after all, hasn't started yet.