What’s worth dying for? V2 B1 C14

Tags

daily living, dying, purpose, reality, worship

The decision to fight to the death by the last few remaining French soldiers was made in a context of a battlefield. Perhaps these soldiers had been on such a battlefield before with such a real possibility and then faced death down. But probably they had not been in the shadow of such certain doom. I have faced death as a real possibility due to circumstances that I cannot control, but I lived. I might have missed out on the past 8 years of life which have been packed with wonderful personal growth, graduations and grandkids. When would I choose death? Certainly I would die to save a loved one, and probably even to accompany a loved one into death. Most likely I would die for other friends and strangers if it meant that I could protect them. But such choices are rarely if ever mine and therefore only exist in my virtual world. There is a clearer reality.

Greater love has no man than this: to lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

See this excerpt from Oswald Chambers “utmost” website:

It is much easier to die than to lay down your life day in and day out with the sense of the high calling of God. We are not made for the bright-shining moments of life, but we have to walk in the light of them in our everyday ways.

Whether it is 40 years or 4 minutes, I will die, How I lay down my life is completely my choice! To create and implement plans for loving people well. To get excited about moments of joy with another person. To walk in the light of reality in this illusion of circumstance. Reality of God, reality of relationship, reality of life with God in relationship.

Better questions: Who have  I loved in these past eight years? Who will I lay my life down for? What high calling do I have today?

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Poise in panic: V2 B1 C13

Tags

confidence, les miserables, listening, panic, stress, vision

As panic set in amongst the French army and great numbers fled south from the battlefield: only a few remained to stand and fight. What was the right thing to do at the time? What was the best thing to do at the time? I don’t think there was any time to consider the questions – it just happened. Were those who fled were morally inferior than those who stood and fought to their deaths?

Perhaps the best way to discriminate is to say that the fleeing troops were less invested for the goal of the battle than the generals. And perhaps this is natural and necessary.

Consider now the dynamics of the workplace. In general the manager seems more invested in the strategic objectives than those who do most of the actual work.

Consider the family. The parents are more invested in the goals of training for right living and of quality family time than the children.

Any disfunction here means that there is an abusive situation where the leaders who have positional power wield it to their personal advantage. What is the leaders job if not to have greater vision and drive toward the big objective?

But poise in panic is a lofty goal. At a smaller scale, there is daily practice. I desire to have confidence in my daily living, stepping boldly and sleeping soundly. Yes, to recognize when I have been insensitive, and quick to apologize, but to be OK with some level of offense since people’s expectations are often ridiculous. Mainly,  good leadership living is to listen well to God and to others, and be slower to speak. And when I am bothered, to not jump to the extreme, and to dampen the extreme reactions of others.

Everyman by Himself: V2 B1 C12

Tags

les miserables, loneliness, retreat, solitude, vulnerability

Sauve qui peut! The ordinary French troops fled in retreat.

The destruction of the Imperial Guard was now at hand and they bravely marched to their deaths. To what purpose? What was worth dying for to them? Their nationalist pride? No, really a dedication to their leader even unto death. And it is always emotional, such dedication. Seldom considered rationally.

But what of the retreat where “everyman” was for himself? Was it any better for them? What of the man who did escape and knew that he had fled while fellow soldiers stood and fought? Would he be better off? Or would his thoughts be haunted by his past actions and find no restful solitude? Once he forsook the brotherhood of a cause unto death, could he find relief in a peaceful life with friends and neighbors? I hear the soldiers often struggle to find such rest. But the one who has, in the heat of battle, chosen to be by himself may never find companionship again.

And in our normal life in peaceful suburb, the man who chooses selfishly to live for himself, not choosing vulnerability to be known and dependent upon another, must be everyman. And as he grows crooked and alone, unchecked by perceptions from others and left to his own misguided and twisting ideas regarding himself, he must experience the loneliness and regret without a friend who knows him.

Everyman for himself

Everyman by himself.

Choice makes timing: V2 B1 C11

Tags

decisions, existential, plancenoit

Plancenoit was the choice. And as Hugo says, had the Prussians chosen some other door, the battle would have gone to Napoleon.

In such a manner we create our lives and shape the lives of others.

Types of decisions:

1. Blind
2. Difficult
3. Self-sacrificing
4. Disciplined
5. Easy
6. Mindless
7. Wise
8. Foolish
9. Calculated
10. Spontaneous
11. Quick
12. Long
13. Selfish
14. Deceived
15. Put-off
16. Joint
17. Regular
18. Repeated
19. Mindless
20. Premeditated
21. Deliberate
22. Dumb
23. Rash
24. Incomplete
25. Waffling

Choose to love. Choose to exert energy. Choose to live.

Timing is everything: V2 B1 C10

Tags

character, gratitude, patience, timing, waiting

French: Cuirass is a piece of armor which covers the front of the torso. The Cuirassiers were cavalry equipped with cuirass and firearms.

English: The infantry squares were tightly fit and double-rowed arrangement of soldiers commonly used against calvary attack.

This confrontation at Mont Saint Jean seems a voluminous pouring out of the lives of men to decide the direction of Europe. And the picture of Wellington and his men hanging on to the final minute before Blucher’s cavalry arrives keeps me on the edge of my seat as I read of the account. But such “nick-of-time” occurrences are not uncommon on smaller scales.

The coincidental timings of two separate event paths crossing is outside the control of independent participants. But at Waterloo, Wellington and Blucher were not independent, and they indeed reached each other just in time. But when are these coincidences worth the effort, and when are the urgent difficulties and engagements more important than the strivings? At Waterloo the hindsight answer seems clear, but there are many instances where it is not, and the assessment itself is subjective.

Pace and rhythm are important topics that I have neglected to value as objects of study.  I have taken the view that I need to get as much accomplished as possible as soon as possible. The extra effort that I have to put in to getting everything done at once has only been important as it represents a certain amount of energy. But the timing issues are important all to themselves. A slow controlled walk with good posture is to be valued above a hurried race from one meeting to the next, just of itself.

There is timing that we cannot control, and then there is timing that we can. What are some symptoms that we are not exercising control of our timing?

1. Being always in a hurry.
2. Being impatient in traffic or in a queue.
3. Always being late.
4. Never being late.
5. Not speaking in complete sentences.
6. Not listening well.
7. Often forgetting items.
8. Racing back to get items forgot that could have been abandoned once it was realized that they were forgotten.
9. Avoiding solitude and silence and fasting.
10. Lamenting over idle time thrust upon us during waiting instead of rejoicing for the moments of meditation gained.

Live at the right pace and keep margins for spontaneity.