THE VIGIL HONOR

REQUIREMENTS

All candidates for the Vigil Honor must have been Brotherhood members for two years or longer at the time of selection by the Vigil Honor Selection committee. All candidates must be in good standing with the lodge at time of selection.

SELECTION CRITERIA

This section is based on an article that was written by an Arrowman in Utah who felt that his lodge was not upholding the high standard of the Vigil. It analyzes the criteria set by the Order of the Arrow for selection of Vigil Honor candidates and should be used as a guide when determining if an Arrowman meets the standards of Vigil selection.

Many people who are not Vigils, but are members of the Order of the Arrow, each year look at those who have been chosen for the Vigil Honor and say to themselves, “Why in the world did they give it to him?!

He’s not even a lodge officer. I know a lot of people who deserve it more than him. Somebody’s made a mistake.” In fact, a lot of Vigil members question those who are selected for the Honor. But what are the criteria for choosing those for whom the Vigil is due? Is the position or office or number of years or most work or even time spent a fair way of judging Arrowmen for the Vigil?

Consider this example: An Arrowman has been a member of the OA for at least five years now, and has served in chapter offices and lodge committee chairman positions. He has served as a Nimat(Brother – someone who helps direct others through to Brotherhood) and as an Ordealmaster more times than even the Lodge Chief, but he does not have his Vigil. During the summer, one day, he came to the Lodge Chief and said he wanted to talk with him about something. After a while he finally came to the point and said, “What do I have to do to get my Vigil? I’ve been doing things for the chapter and the lodge for years, and somehow I thought that since you and my other friends in the lodge have their Vigils that I would get mine. I was your Elangomat(Friend – for Ordeal). I’ve been in the Order for longer than any of the present Vigil members. I was a chapter officer when you were just Ordeal. I’ve been on camp staff for several years. I’ve been more involved with the OA than some of those who have just received their Vigils. Why didn’t I get mine when they did?”

It was obvious that something was wrong in his thinking when he asked the first question. Actually, this member’s reasoning was pretty valid. It seemed that he had all the qualifications and experience of a potential Vigil. He wasn’t the only one who was surprised that he didn’t get the Honor. Why wasn’t he selected?

The OA Handbook states some very important criteria for the selecting of Vigil Honor memberships. Many times when one reads the section on choosing Vigil Honor candidates they don’t think carefully about what is meant by each detail. Let us dissect each part of the passages in the OA Handbook and see what they say:

“It is a mark of distinction and recognition reserved for those Arrowmen who, by reason of exceptional service, personal effort, and unselfish interest, have made distinguished contributions beyond the immediate responsibilities of their position or office, to one or more of the following: their lodge, the Order of the Arrow, Scouting, or their Scout camp.”

RECOGNITION - Vigil Honor membership is not earned. You become recognized by your dedication, exceptional service, personal effort, and unselfish interest. A Vigil Honor member, if he truly is worthy of the Honor in the first place, will definitely be five times more worthy of his Vigil membership after he receives it. He does not sit back or fade away saying, “Well, I finally got it - my Vigil.” Why? Because he did not try to earn it; it came as a token for what he was already doing. He was recognized for his dedication, exceptional service, personal effort, and unselfish interest. A true Vigil Honor member would still love the OA even if he never got his Vigil, or even if it was taken away from him. He loves the unselfish service, not the “mark of distinction.” A true Vigil Honor member naturally is more dedicated after he becomes a Vigil.

He has even greater responsibilities to live up to, given to him in his sacred, solemn, and personal Vigil ceremony. But when considering Vigil candidates, you should ask, “Has he truly exhibited the qualities of the Vigil Honor?” not, “Will he exhibit the qualities of the Vigil Honor if he gets it?”

BY REASON OF EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE - We must remember that all OA members are expected to give service. Service is a must in the OA. We should not ask whether the Vigil candidate has given service, but whether the service rendered has been exceptional. Since the Arrowman is “elected not so much for what he has done, but for what he is expected to do in the future,” the Arrowman is expected to participate in service projects, camp promotions, troop leadership and service.

The Vigil member engages in projects that involve his dedication above the expected stuff and offers deep personal sacrifices, not just of time and money, but of personal pleasure and opportunity, and yes, even his reputation, which may be hurt. But he does not care about these things. The Vigil Honor member has “caught the higher vision” long, long, ago, and he sees “the greater beauty in a life of cheerful service.”

The Vigil Honor does not concern himself with his reputation, or whether he gets credit for the good things he has done. His reward is the satisfaction of a job well done.

When a member becomes Brotherhood, his obligations entail dedication and service to the lodge. He is expected to fulfill his obligations. Therefore, regular service to the lodge is not a criterion for giving the Vigil Honor. There is a unique situation in the Order of the Arrow. When you live up to your obligation as a Scout, you may be elected into the OA. When you live up to your Ordeal obligation, you may go on and get Brotherhood. But this is not the case with the Vigil, because you do not earn it, like the Ordeal or Brotherhood.

Be careful not to give the Vigil merely because an Arrowman has just completed his obligations. This is one of the biggest problems leading to the degradation of the Vigil in any lodge - that the lodge gives the Vigil, when all the candidate has really done is fulfill the obligations he has already undertaken. Lodges of this sort usually contain Vigil members who are nothing more than a club of Brotherhood members that have done what they are supposed to. The Vigil should only be given for exceptional service.

Remember also when weighing exceptional service for an Arrowman, measure a Scout on a youth’s standard and an adult on an adult’s standard.

UNSELFISH INTEREST - This is quite a misunderstood phrase. When considering Vigil candidates, their interest in the OA should be diagnosed. Why are they active? Why do they want to do this or that? What do they get out of it that makes them do more?

People who hold lodge offices, participate in ceremonial teams, dance, or just participate, have an interest in the OA, otherwise they would be inactive. But when considering candidates for the Vigil, their ulterior motives should be questioned. Does he serve as a chapter officer because his OA buddies have been officers or have given him opportunity? Or is it because he sees that the Order of the Arrow is a program which offers service, and he wants to improve that service? Is he an active member because he likes Indian dancing? Or is it because he sees that Indian dancing can be a means of promoting the OA, serving the community, and perpetuating the Indian culture? Does he come on hikes because they are “fun” or because they can build greater brotherhood between him and someone else? Naturally, all active members of the OA have an interest, but this interest should be diagnosed, to see whether it is an interest in the potential of the OA as an organization of Brotherhood, Cheerfulness, and Service, and the great influence this organization can have, and the tremendous amount of leadership and service it can create.

The whole question really is not if they are interested in the OA, but why. If they are interested in the OA to see it get better and really fulfill its purpose, and in the process they have a good time, or if it is a means to their own advancement. The interest must be totally unselfish.

DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTIONS - A lot of people contribute to the OA. They contribute ideas, ways and means of doing things, time and money. The Vigil Honor candidate should be analyzed as to whether he made contributions that are not just okay, but contributions on which he has spent a lot of time, effort, and sacrifice. Contributions that have required his dedication and self-denial. This is what makes a contribution “distinguished.” The same rule of exceptional service applies to distinguished contributions; Arrowmen are expected to do service and contribute, but it must be distinguished and exceptional to qualify for the Vigil Honor.

BEYOND [THEIR] IMMEDIATE RESPONSIBILITIES - When looking at potential Vigil candidates, what should be done is to list all of their offices and things that they have done, and then rule out those that fit under the category of “immediate responsibilities.” What is left is what you should really look at. A chapter chief may have organized many committees, put on monthly activities, held a “Key 3” meeting every time, gotten his chapter to put on camporees as staff; he may have put out thousands of newsletters.

But these are all part of his immediate responsibilities; they’re part of his job; all chapter chiefs should be doing these things.

These things are not beyond his immediate responsibilities. A chapter chief may have the best chapter in the nation, but if he has not gone past his immediate responsibilities, he should not even be looked at for the Vigil Honor. Many lodges make a great mistake in looking at people in this manner for the Vigil Honor.

They look at an officer and see what a good job he has done, and put his name down as a Vigil Honor candidate. But many times, too often, sadly enough, the officer has not gone beyond his immediate responsibilities. It is an officer’s duty to do a “good job,” but it should be researched out if the things done are beyond immediate responsibility.

TO...THE FOLLOWING: THEIR LODGE, THE OA, SCOUTING OR THEIR SCOUT CAMP - We must remember that the Order of the Arrow was set up as an aid to Scouting, not to itself. People sometimes get the impression that if a member does not make distinguished contributions to the OA, he is not to be considered for the Vigil. Someone may be an Arrowman who has no great service rendered to the OA, but he may have rendered great and worthy service to Scouting on a district or council level, or to Scout camp.

They should not be inactive members in the OA, but their exceptional service need not be all OA oriented.

It must be remembered that a truly worthy Vigil Honor member will try to give exceptional service in all areas of Scouting. If someone has affected Scouting for good in all areas, it is an even better criterion for honoring someone with the Vigil.

Now that we’ve analyzed this paragraph from the OA Handbook, let’s take another look at our example Arrowman. How do his qualifications stand up against the criteria outlined in the OA Handbook?

He asked what he had to do to get his Vigil. From this question, it seems that he was looking for a way to earn his Vigil. You don’t earn it!! From this question, we can see that he looked for the High Mark of Distinction. Instead of being recognized for his exceptional service, he wanted to be recognized for getting his Vigil. Although he did a lot of good things for the OA, and supported it fully, his interests were not totally unselfish. He was interested in the OA, not for what it could become, but for what he could become.

He wanted to, and thought he could, earn his Vigil. He did not completely understand what the Vigil was about.

After analyzing his service further, we find that in all his many and various offices, staff experiences, and responsibilities, he had never given exceptional service or distinguished contributions. He had donated thousands of hours to the OA; he had done more things than many. But, after looking carefully at his record and his motives, it should be clear now why he was not selected.

All aspects of the individual must be examined against this criteria to determine his or her

qualifications for the Vigil Honor. Arrowmen need not make gigantic sacrifices of money, time, or their whole social life, but the willingness to sacrifice should be there. It is the quiet, sometimes unsuspecting and “weird” person that gets the Vigil, because he has, in his own silent and efficient way, given the sacrifice necessary to do an exceptional job beyond his immediate responsibilities.

The Vigil Honor member is an example. When someone sees a Vigil Honor member, if the Vigil standard in that lodge is high, they will realize how dedicated someone can be to the OA, and it will increase their own dedication and sacrifice to the OA, because they realize that it is a program worthy of personal self-denial and dedication. Thus, they will promote a higher standard of service in the lodge. The Vigil Honor Selection Committee has the awesome responsibility of seeing that only those worthy are nominated for the Vigil Honor. Each committee member must search themselves deeply and carefully that they find any ulterior motives of those in consideration, and preserve the high and honorable traditions of the Order of the Arrow.

Finally, the biggest degradation the Vigil Honor can receive is when everyone has it. The Eagle Award can be earned, but the Vigil Honor is bestowed. We should never make the mistake of giving the Vigil Honor to someone to elevate his status. When that is done, instead of elevating that person’s status, we lower the status of the Vigil Honor.

All too often, members of the Vigil Honor selection committee can be heard saying, “We can only give five Vigils this year.” It sounds like they would gladly give more. Remember that the quota has absolutely no bearing on how many are truly worthy. The committee should never hand out a list of eligible brotherhood members and say, “We have to narrow this list down to five people.” Here the intention is to start with twenty people who they would like to give the Vigil Honor, and then whittle it down to fill their quota.

The proper way is to take the list of candidates and individually consider whether each one is worthy for the honor, through research into the innermost motives of each candidate. Many lodges go on for years without choosing any for the Vigil, while many choose only one, which is far below their quota, of which they are not concerned, because no other people are worthy. We should at all times remember that the quota should never be a goal for the number of Vigils given. It was set up only if the amount of those worthy exceeds it, sot that it can be a protective measure. In almost all cases, a lodge will not have enough worthy to worry about their quota.