I promise to do my best
To love and serve God,
to do my duty to the Queen;
To keep the law of the Wolf
Cub pack,
And to do a good turn for
somebody every day.
When you promise to do something, it means you will try your hardest to keep your word. Doing your best also means that, when you are doing something important like helping someone with a job or playing a game, you will not give up if it gets tough. You'll stick with it as best you can. Sometimes you may make a mistake. That just means you will try even harder the next time and keep on doing your best every day.
While there are many different faiths and ways to worship God, all faiths teach the importance of love, caring and respect for others. When you can take the words of your own faith and put them into daily practice, you are showing how to love and serve God.
When you belong to a group like a family, a pack or a country, you need to
follow certain rules that help people live and get along together.
Queen Elizabeth is our Queen and the laws of Canada are made in her name. The
Queen represents our country and all its people, and the crown she wears is the
symbol of authority. We do our duty to the Queen and our country by obeying the
law.
When we obey the traffic safety laws and respect other people's property, we are
doing our duty to the Queen and all Canadians. Whenever we do something to help
make Canada a better country, like protecting our environment and helping
others, we are also doing our duty to the Queen.
The law of the Wolf Cub Pack says : The Cub respects the Old Wolf; The Cub respects himself / herself. When Mowgli lived with the wolves in the jungle, he learned that they had to hunt together and follow the directions of Akela, the Old Wolf, if they were going to survive. The Old Wolf represents the Cubs and the pack. Obeying the law helps the pack stay together and have fun.
Doing a good turn means helping someone just for the sake of helping, without expecting a reward. A good turn can be a big one like saving someone's life, or a small one like smiling at someone or doing the dishes without being asked. Usually, we only have chances to do small good turns, but we have lots of chances to do them because there are so many good turns that need to be done.
When Mowgli lived with the wolves in the jungle, he learned that they had to hunt together and follow the directions of Akela, the Old Wolf, if they were going to survive. The Old Wolf represents the Cubs and the pack. Obeying the law helps the pack stay together and have fun.
Imagine what your pack would be like if Cubs did just what they felt like doing. There would be lots of noise and running around, but not much else.
You wouldn't get a chance to do neat things like going on hikes, camping, crafts and finding out what teamwork is all about.
That's why, in your Cub pack and in a real wolf pack, all the Cubs and young wolves need to do their share to follow the Old Wolf and listen to what he (or she) says.
When you do your share, you are respecting Akela, the Old Wolf, and helping the pack stay together and have fun doing things.
It reminds us that we have promised to do our best always, according to our own personal abilities. In Cubs, winning and losing does not matter. The personal effort you put into trying new things is what really counts.
The salute is a very old form of greeting. Long ago when people greeted each other, they held up their right hand with the palm forward to show that they had no weapon in it. The salute is also a sign of respect and friendship for a leader or another Cub or Scout. When you salute a leader or another Cub you use a special sign. You hold up your right hand with two fingers spread out to look like the pointed ears of a wolf. Akela will show you how to do it.
Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Cubbing and Scouting, once met an African chief who greeted him by shaking hands with the left hand. The chief explained that the left handshake was a sign of trust, because you would lay down your shield to do so. Today, in cultures where it is acceptable, Cubs and Scouts shake hands with the left hand. It is a sign that they are all members of the Worldwide Scouting family.
Our sincere thanks, to Akela at the 1st Whitby Wolf Cub group, who clearly learned the motto from Beavers, and freely provided us with all of these well put-together electronic excerpts from the Cub Handbook!