Big Picture" Thinking

Selected for it’s 10X zoom my digital camera has recorded many Scout outings over the past several years.

Every once in a while I wish it had a wider minimum angle to capture more of a big scene.

I repeatedly find that I must zoom out to the widest angle in my approach to Scouting too – to take in the whole scene and gain a better perspective of my place in it.

Scoutmastership presents knotty problems of ethics, policy and procedure.

I find that widening the angle of view often helps find a resolution that a tighter focus does not. If an interpretation of policy or procedure results in misdirection from the aims of Scouting (character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness) it may be that we have focused too closely and missed the bigger picture.

I have found myself caught in many misinterpretations of my job as a Scoutmaster.

Keeping the aims and promises of Scouting as the final test for interpreting policy is important to keeping our work pointed to true north.