Follow
This Scoutmaster’s minute is based on one of Aesop’s Fables.
The Wind and the Sun were arguing.
It’s a little know fact but, every once in a while, the forces of nature have an argument, and I happened to overhear them the other day.
We all know the wind is, well, kind of a blowhard and just the other day the Wind was bragging about how strong it was, and even insisted it was stronger than the Sun.
The Sun (basically a pretty good force of nature with a big, smiley face) smiled back at the wind and said “I have to admit you are pretty strong; but I don’t know that you are any stronger than I am.”
This made the Wind impatient and he reminded the Sun he could create hurricanes and tornadoes.
The Sun just kept smiling and, of course, this made the Wind kind of angry.
“Listen. See that guy over there?” the Wind asked, “I bet I can make him take off his coat faster than you can!”
“I don’t think you can” the sun replied, still smiling.
“Well, I’ll show you!” the Wind shouted.He started picking up speed and blasted the man so hard it nearly knocked him over. The man leaned into the wind and turned the collar of his coat up, holding on to it even harder.
After a few minutes of this the Wind gave up in frustration. “I’ll bet you can’t do any better!” he sneered at the Sun.
The sun smiled and said “Good try! Let’s see if I can get this guy to take off his coat.” The sun beamed down on the man, and warmed him up. The man smiled back at the sun and thought “finally, the wind has died down and it’s getting warmer. I don’t need this coat any more. ” The man took off his coat, slung it over his shoulder and continued on his way.
“See that?” said the Sun, “I am at least as strong as you, maybe even a little stronger.” The wind huffed and puffed a little, but he knew the sun was right.
What’s more powerful; force or persuasion?
If we need to get something done I think we’ll find that blasting others with the severity of our demands isn’t nearly as effective as warming them up with kindness and encouragement.
Fables are the original Scoutmaster’s minute.
Fables are short stories leading to a moral lesson featuring anthropomorphized animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature given the power of human speech or reasoning. Parables are similar but don’t include anthropomorphized characters.
Several notable historic collections of fables provide not only interesting reading, but many ideas for Scoutmaster Minutes.
Aesops Fables are available as a free Kindle book
The Jakata Tales are part of the earliest Buddhist literature from India (4th century BCE). They are available as a free Kindle book
Panchatantra, another collection of ancient fables from India (3rd century BCE) is also avilable as a free Kindle book
These ancient texts may contain frank descriptions and sensibilities that can raise the brows of a modern reader – I am certainly not suggesting all the stories are suitable for children, but they are a source of ideas.
Clarke, you had me at frank descriptions. I always wondered what he looked like!