By Mark Hancock for REALCLEARRELIGION
Last summer, in the wild plains of Montana — far from screens, suburbs and cell service. A group of Trail Life USA Trailmen (as we call the boys in the program) had come to retrace the route of Lewis and Clark, but this wasn’t a museum tour. This was a full-on Corps of Discovery expedition — rugged terrain, primitive campsites, packs on backs, navigating by map and compass, cooking over fires, hauling gear downriver.
They set the goals. They made the plans. They faced challenges — and overcame them together. They grew not just as individuals, but as brothers. As a team.
They carried gear in their canoes — and sometimes on their backs. But whether they realized it or not, they were also carrying something deeper: the quiet, unspoken questions every boy is seeking to answer.
A generation without a map
A boy doesn’t usually say it out loud. But he’s always asking: What’s the mission? Who’s in charge? Who’s with me?
You’ll see it in the way he sizes up his coach. In how he mimics his older brother. In the way he pushes boundaries — not to be bad, but to find where he fits. Boys don’t crave chaos. They crave clarity.
