Lift Up Your Hearts!

There has been a lot of chatter recently about the need to be prepared for disaster, such as loss of power, loss of clean water, disruptions in the supply chain, civil unrest, and anything that makes unavailable the essentials of life.

This is not wrong.

My father was a Boy Scout leader.  I was a Girl Scout, and later also a Boy Scout (as an Explorer, in a coed program).  A prominent feature in those programs was the motto, "Be Prepared."

I've been less impressed with what I know of the modern versions of Scouting, but in earlier days the skills enabling one to "Be Prepared" played a major part in the boys' training.  Survival skills were paramount.  (Less so for the girls, in my experience; my father worked to make up the deficiency in me and my fellow Girl Scouts.)

The motto was coined by the founder of the Scouting movement, Robert Baden-Powell, who explained it in his 1908 handbook, Scouting for Boys (format and punctuation slightly edited for clarity).

The scouts' motto is founded on my initials [B. P.].  It is:  BE PREPARED, which means you are always to be in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your DUTY.

Be Prepared in Mind by having disciplined yourself to be obedient to every order, and also by having thought out beforehand any accident or situation that might occur, so that you know the right thing to do at the right moment, and are willing to do it.

Be Prepared in Body by making yourself strong and active and able to do the right thing at the right moment, and do it.

If "obedient to every order" sticks in the craw somewhat these days, the emphasis on duty still needs reviving, as do discipline, forethought, strength, and willingness to do hard things.  There's wisdom there that we don't always associate with those who stockpile food and plan for what to do if we turn on the water tap and nothing comes out.  In times of plenty, "preppers" have often been considered unhinged and selfish, but they are now looking less fringe than smart—and in a better position than most of us to help their neighbors in time of crisis.

Be Prepared.

The panicked urgency that often comes with discussions of the subject probably does more harm than good—"slow and steady" is the better approach.  But the whole country would do well to prepare to the level Floridians are expected to maintain during hurricane season, including seven days' worth of food, water, and medical supplies for each person and a reliable source of auxiliary power (batteries, at least).

Other preparations are undoubtedly needed, as recent surprise outages—such as yesterday's aviation ground stop and the disappearance of Microsoft's Outlook, Teams, and Copilot—have demonstrated.  Smaller outages can cause major disruptions, too:  a cyberattack briefly kept Stop & Shop pharmacy customers from refilling their prescriptions, and a network outage of undisclosed origin is still causing havoc at Monadnock Community Hospital in New Hampshire.

It can happen here, and it can happen to any of us.  The most important step is the first one; others will follow naturally as "Be Prepared" becomes a habit.  If this sounds preachy, know that it's myself I'm talking to more than anyone else.  At minimum, it's worth keeping a few extra essentials around—if only to spare ourselves the long lines of people trying to purchase plywood, water, or toilet paper at the last minute.  It's not "hoarding" if we stock up in times of plenty.

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