A Scout is Clean

(Hold up two cooking pots, one shiny bright on the inside but sooty outside, the other shiny outside and dirty inside.)

Scouts, which of these pots would you rather have your food cooked in? Did I hear someone say "Neither one. " That's not a bad answer. We wouldn't have much confidence in a patrol cook who didn't have his pots shiny both inside and out. But if we had to make a choice, we would tell the cook to use the pot that's clean on the inside. The same applies to people.

Most people keep themselves clean on the outside. But how about the inside? Do we try to keep our minds and our language clean? I think that's more important than keeping the outside clean.

A Scout of course, should be clean inside and out. Water, soap, and a toothbrush takes care of the outside.

Only your determination will keep the inside clean. You can do it by following the Scout Law and the example of the people you respect - your parents, your teacher, your clergyman, or a good buddy who is trying to do the same thing.