Linda Heggestad Wilson

“On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, to obey the Scout Law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.”

People have said this at every Scout meeting for over 100 years. But what is honor?

“Your honor is the only thing in this life that is truly YOURS,” the Honorable Paul C. Wilson, Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, told the assembled 2025 Missouri Eagle Scouts. Of the 785 new Eagle Scouts in Missouri last year, 163 were in the Capitol on President’s Day filling the legislators’ seats in the House Chamber.

“Honor is what you do when no one is looking. Honor is what you have when you have nothing else. Honor is a commitment of all you are and all you can be.”

He read the words of “Vespers,” a song often sung on campouts at the end of a campfire. The words say: Softly falls the light of day, As our campfire fades away.

Silently each Scout should ask, “Have I done my daily task?

Have I kept my honor bright?

Can I guiltless sleep tonight?

Have I done and have I dared, Everything to Be Prepared?

Among the Eagle Scouts seated below us in the House Chamber, I saw Amy nodding in recognition. Firelight memories carry the song back.

“Only one person can say whether I have kept my oath,” said Justice Wilson, an Eagle Scout. “That person is me.” He added that to do YOUR best is not the same as doing what’s expected or even doing better than everyone else. Is it YOUR best?

He went on to say, “There is a secret reason to keep the Scout Oath. Is it the right thing to do? Yes, but that’s not a secret. Should you do it because you said you would? Yes, but that’s not a secret. The secret is that it is the best and most certain way for you to be happy.”

He noted that these Scouts are on the edge of adulthood and going out into the world to decide what to do with their lives, where to do it, and with whom. The secret to being happy is in the Scout Oath, Justice Wilson said. “The ones who will be happy are those who sought out and found ways to serve.”

He added, “It’s time to stop doing WELL, and start focusing on doing GOOD.”

Justice Wilson quoted George Bernard Shaw: “Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment; and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

I rejoice in life for its own sake… Splendid torch I have hold of for the moment…. To shine as brightly as possible…. The spark that lights the torch… you will carry through life till it is time to pass it to the next generation… Your legacy as an Eagle Scout… As you enter into your full adulthood.

As I listened to the Eagle Scouts’ names read, as they were each called forward to receive a handshake and a challenge coin, I thought about their different names and the nationalities the names reflect.

I wondered about the towns they live in, and what their lives are like. They were all brought together and equal in Scouting. I wondered about the lives they will live, who they will be in the world.

We cheered when Amy’s name was called and she went up to receive her handshake and her challenge coin.

After she returned to her seat, she looked up at us and waved.