I received my Girl Scout cookie order this week. Yum. I was a Girl Scout until junior high, when I thought I was too cool to participate. And I watched enviously as the girls who stayed in Scouting took fun trips and learned about interesting things like hiking and quilting – both of which are now on my wish list of things to pursue when I have time.

Also this past week, I was challenged during a discussion to carefully consider what I believe to be the meaning and purpose of life. “Whoa. That’s deep,” I said.

As I was munching on shortbread, I tried to remember the Girl Scout oath. According to the Girl Scout Web site, the oath, or “Promise” as GSers call it, is as follows: “On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law.” And what is the Girl Scout Law, then? Conveniently, directly below the Promise on the Web site is the Law:

“I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout.”

Is it possible to cheat on my answer to the discussion question – what is the meaning and purpose of life? I think the Girl Scouts are really onto something.

I’d started a list of ideas: Leave the world a little better than I found it; Be a good parent, spouse, friend; Be accountable; Figure out a way to use my talents in such a way that is fulfilling to me, inspiring to my children, and helpful to society…That’s as far as I got.

I always tend to be too wordy. I start expounding, and then I expound on what I’ve already expounded on, until suddenly I’ve forgotten what I was saying in the first place, except that it required much exposition.

And along came the Girl Scout Law. It is written in simple language to be understood by young girls, but to continue to resonate with them for the rest of their lives. It covers all the bases – justice, friendship, compassion, courage, personal responsibility, respect for yourself and others, love of nature, helping others, and family – all in just over 50 words.

I am fairly certain when I dropped out of the Girl Scouts at 13, the meaning of life for me at the time was social acceptance, and the purpose was a misguided definition of cool. I am ashamed of that now, although I’m not sure I was all that different from most seventh-graders.

If I could go back in time, I’d stay in the Girl Scouts. I’d take those fun trips and learn to hike and quilt and all sorts of other things. And I’d never forget the Girl Scout Promise, or the Law it is meant to uphold. I didn’t know it 20 years ago, but Girl Scouts is so much more than selling cookies and earning badges. It’s about the meaning and purpose of life, in just over 50 words.

Sara Frederick lives and writes in Lewistown. An archive of The Sara Beth Times is available online at www.sarabethtimes.com.