Where are the leaders?

Today is Memorial Day and it's fitting to remember the courage and sacrifice of our young men and women in uniform. I hope you'll become a regular reader of this blog because you'll be exposed to some of the books that I've read or am currently reading. One such book is "Where Men Win Glory" by Jon Krakauer. It's the story of Pat Tilman, a pro-football player with the Arizona Cardinals, who in the aftermath of 9/11 enlisted in the Army Rangers.

Krakauer in this masterful book, captures the heroism, madness and sadness of deployment in Afghanistan.

Pat Tilman was killed in an unbelievable incident of friendly fire, and the U.S. Army obfuscated in a "cynical cover-up." The military brass tried to use Pat Tilman and then sought to hide the details behind his tragic death.

Covered in the dust of your rabbi

Check out this site: Follow The Rabbi

In Jesus’ day, every decent rabbi had at least one disciple. Some had a lot more. Jesus had several hundred.

To become a rabbi's disciple you had to prove that you were worthy by memorizing most of the scriptures and studying rabbinical writings enough to satisfy the rabbi's questions in a sort of interview. Once you were accepted by a rabbi you followed him around and watched his every move so that you could be just like him.  They would pronounce a blessing over you which said, in essence, "May you be covered by the dust of your rabbi." In other words, may you follow your rabbi so closely that you are covered in the dust that his sandals kicked up.

The Power of Example......

I confess...I am a Survivor-addict. Since season 1, I've seen every episode of Survivor, but the most recent 22nd season of Survivor: Redemption Island had some unique and memorable moments, centered around a 22-yr old pre-med student from Nashville, Matt Elrod. Matt was the only survivor player to be voted out twice during the same season--he was blindsided twice by his tribe, which may speak to his trusting naivete as a player.

Matt was sent to Redemption Island where he spent much of his time in isolation. The Survivor cameras captured him reading the Bible, talking to God, expressing his trust in God's faithfulness and ability to strengthen him as well as his desire to glorify God while in  the game. At one point, Matt is in tears as he tells God that he's reached his breaking point and doesn't have the strength to continue in the game.