A Scout Is Reverant

Posted by Russ Devan (New Hanover, United States) on 20 July 2008 in People & Portrait and Portfolio.

I had the privilege of photographing the Court of Honor for the newest Eagle Scout in our Boy Scout Troop. For those of you that may not know, the Eagle rank is the highest rank a scout can achieve in boy scouting. Scouts who earn the rank of Eagle are awarded the badge at a special ceremony called a Court of Honor. An Eagle Court of Honor is a BIG deal and is part serious, part emotional, and (in the case of our troop), part irreverent because the recipient scout is roasted with humorous tales of his years in scouting, much to his embarrassment. But it's all in good, clean fun. Following the Court of Honor, a reception is held in the scout's honor. After these festivities were over, I returned to the church's sanctuary to retrieve my equipment. Since the sanctuary was empty, I began exploring the interior of this nearly 300-year old church (pictured in an earlier blog entry) and examining some of the fine, intricate stained-glass windows. My son, a First Class Scout, was eager to go home. I asked him to wait patiently a little while longer while I looked around the church. When I went upstairs to the church's balcony, I found him sitting at the end of one of the pews, next to one of the windows, just waiting for dad to finally be finished. I saw this scene and it immediately reminded me of the 12th point of the Scout Law...a scout is reverent. Although it is difficult to see because of the silhouette, he is in his full Class A uniform, hence the photo's title. I like how the light of the setting sun was coming through the window at just the right time, bathing the interior of the church in it's warm light, and creating a beautiful shine on the old pews. I snapped just a few images before my son asked..."Dad, can we go yet?".

The District Executive for our Boy Scout Council saw this image on my portfolio and requested a copy. As a result of this request, our troop decided to donate a custom-framed copy of this photograph as a gift to the Cradle of Liberty Council, Boy Scouts of America. I'm proud to have this photo on display at Council Headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

"The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both."
- Zen Buddhist Text

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