Nisqually Lodge #155 Admonition Team
As Scouts and Scouters, we share a common set of values in the Scout Oath and Scout Law. As Arrowmen, we share an obligation. These form a common understanding and outlook on the world that we try to model. They link us to a storied past and a vibrant future that is being built today.Over the past couple years, we as a society have examined both what makes us unique and what binds us closer together. We value hearing, seeing, and recognizing that which makes us individuals. We yearn for the common threads to weave us together. The strength of the Lodge is in the many.
At the 2022 National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC), the Lodge contingent encountered a new experience that sought to further the aims of our common values. An inclusive program that welcomed all arrowmen was visibly woven into the fabric of the event. The team that put this together was the Admonition Team, formed with the sole purpose to put into action the meaning of our Admonition. Think back to your Ordeal and the whispered words given to you by the mighty chief, "Ahoalton — to love one another."
Inspired by that experience, members of our Lodge have brought back its concepts to kindle our fire more brightly. The admonition is more than just a whisper around our fire. It is our intent and the fuel that build a brighter fire. The Order has so much to offer. Those who have taken advantage of this program often find new ways that these skills and experience aid them in every day life: Life long friendships are kindled here; social networks are built. All of this done in seeking to perpetuate our common values into the world around us.
In August 2022, the Nisqually Lodge Executive Committee approved a motion to establish a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee to bring forth the concept ascribed in our Admonition. We are charged to weave within the cloth of our Lodge an inclusive program. This is not a separate program or system. It should build stronger ties of fellowship that in turn builds a stronger lodge.
Nisqually Lodge’s Admonition Team has adopted a symbol that reflects this great mission. At the center of that is a heart. The high virtues of the Order are within us. To love one another is the center of our Order. On top of the heart are ripples. These ripples are borrowed from the centennial NOAC. They represent a storied past and a future that ripples out as we each build the Order into our second century. Surrounding the heart are two stylized ravens rooting this program in the local tradition of our Lodge.
We are one of the first lodges to dedicate this program. We expect to learn, stumble, and grow. It is in a brighter future that we will realize the totality of the bonds that tie us to one another. With clearness in our vision, we resolve to live and play so that others clearly see a way of life that puts our fellows first. We see, hear, and recognize our members to welcome them in our Lodge. We strive to meet Allowat Sakima’s challenge to "fulfill your obligation — put in practice its meaning."