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A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Revd Dr Craig Gardiner, a tutor and chaplain at Cardiff Baptist College.

Good morning, on this day when Scouts and Guides around the world will celebrate their international camaraderie by wearing their neck scarves with pride.

Scout Scarf Day has only been around since 2007, which is long after I hung up my childhood neckerchief of blue and green, but the date reaches back another hundred years to the first scout meeting on Brownsea Island. Back then there was much to learn from Lieutenant General Baden-Powell鈥檚 and his book called Scouting for Boys. But he summed it up quite well by using his initials, B.P., Be Prepared. An awful lot has rightly changed in scouting since 1907, but that motto has endured.
The Christian writer, Henri Nouwen might not have been a Scout but he tells an excellent story of what it means to be prepared. He鈥檇 gone to a monastery for some solitude and prayer, but it was interrupted with a request to give a series of talks to students. Initially he said No: 鈥淲hy should I spend my sabbatical time preparing a series lectures?鈥�
But the abbot changed his mind. 鈥淧repare?鈥� He asked. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e been a Christian for 40 years, why do you have to prepare? Years of prayers, worship, scripture reading, and communion with God should have given you enough.鈥�
Nouwen responded by saying 鈥渢he challenge is often to live in a state of ongoing preparedness so that, when someone is drowning in life and comes into your world, you are ready to reach out and help.鈥�
Whether or not we鈥檝e been a Scout or a Guide, whether or not we can find a scarf this morning, preparing ourselves through regular moments of prayer in the day can surely make us ready to help those in need.

Dear God,
Prepare us now for the day ahead,
For the people we shall meet,
the challenges we shall face,
and for every opportunity to reach out and help.
Amen.