The year was 1957 and Dr Curt at Harvard University was preparing his subjects for a swimming experiment. The small pool was filled and the test subjects, who were classified as “Excellent Swimmers”, were placed in the water with nothing around them to hold on to.  The test, to see how long they can swim without drowning… What! You may say. Yes, the information that Dr Curt was looking for in this first part of the experiment was to see how long it would take the subjects to die after they gave up on treading water.  Now, rest at ease, these test subjects we are talking about were rats, and rats are very good swimmers.

How long do you think the first test rats were able to swim before they drowned? 45 minutes? An hour? Half an hour?... would you be surprised to learn that within 15 minutes the rats could not swim any longer and would drown.  How can an excellent swimmer like that only last 15 minutes??

Round two… The test subjects were introduced to the same environment as the first round with one exception.  As soon as Dr Curt noticed that the rats had given up and started to sink, he would rescue them, dry them off, let them rest for a minute, and then plunk them back into the pool. How long do you think the swimmers in round two lasted? Less time than the first since they were already worn out from their first swim? Longer than the first time?... would you be surprised that the rats after being placed in the water for a second time lasted 60 hours!

What made these rats swim for over 2 days? Hope! It was this same hope during the second round that caused them to continue to swim for 60 hours hoping that the hand would come down and rescue them again.

Now the last thing I would ever want to do is call anyone a rat. But we can compare this experiment to us. If things are not going as well as we want in our own lives, we can have hope that things will get better. We can hope for a brighter tomorrow. We can have hope that we will do well on the test at school. We can have hope that a family member will get better soon. Sometimes we are the one that is treading water and are in need of a helping hand to come save us. Sometimes we are the ones how are reaching out to save those who are in trouble and are starting to lose hope.

The Scout Law helps us remember that there is hope by being Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent. Each one of the points of the Scout Law can help us remember and assist with hope in one way or another.