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Ranger Renaissance

In this episode of The Ranger Podcast we are going to convince you that we are in need of a Royal Ranger Renaissance. Now I know what you’re going to ask, what is Royal Rangers? Well, we may get around to answering that. For me Commander Wayne, the question is what is a Renaissance? We have our work cut out for us today. I’m Commander Randy, and you’re listening to The Ranger Podcast.

Change is inevitable and it seems like change is not only happening all the time in every domain of life, but it is happening at speeds that are hard to keep up with.

Let’s review some changes.

Not so long ago, 1990’s, 90% of the country called themselves Christian. That number has collapsed to 63% and there doesn’t seem to anything slowing that decline. We no longer have a unified concept of marriage. Which, by the way, is part of the erosion of the American family. We no longer publicly agree on the two categories of being described in scripture, male and female.

In these changing times we need programs and organization that anchor us to the traditions and wisdoms that venerate those that dug these wells we’re drinking from.

On program, Commander Wayne, that you may have heard of is Royal Rangers. It’s time we had a Royal Ranger Renaissance. A Renaissance is not going backwards. It’s reviving old ideas for a new time. We’re never going back to black and white, tube TV’s running episodes of the Beverly Hillbillies, but the wisdom of 1970’s parents to limit how much their kids were watching, and the tradition of eating super around the table certainly is worth reviving.

It will need several episodes and a variety of topics to fully explore what a Ranger renaissance looks like, but one key step will be a hard look back at those things that worked and the courage to confront those that don’t.

Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist, said, “You show me a successful complex system, and I will show you a system that has evolved through trial and error.”

We hinted at the beginning of the show that the question might be, “what is Royal Rangers?” We are definitely going to dive headlong into this in the coming episodes. Time wont permit today. But, let’s share some thoughts from the past that might give us all an example of bringing something forward into these times.

The Bible Merit (The 8^th Blue Point)

The Flag Patch (It happens a little at a time, and then all at once)

“Loyal” (The 5^th Blue Point)

Royal Rangers means something. Words are containers that fill up with meaning, and Royal Rangers has been filling up with meaning, tradition, and rituals for over 6 decades. We can absolutely add meaning, carefully, but we have to be careful we don’t tip this container over and dump out what it means to be a Royal Ranger.

GK Chesterton said, “Christianity hasn’t been tried and found wrong, it’s been found hard and left untried.”

RG Glotfelty said, “Royal Rangers hasn’t been tried and found wrong, it’s been found hard and left untried.”

Yes, it’s not 1975, or 1995. It’s a new time, but we can bring forward what has always worked, and will always work and apply it here. The hour is late, and much time has been wasted.