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I heard a report last night from California…..the reporter on the street talked

about fire crews who have been slaving against the odds with some of them going

for 72 hours without stopping…..can you imagine? Three days without a break as

they work, and slave, and haul hose lines, and rescue trapped residents…..72

straight hours and yet the fires are still at zero containment with more springing

up……those are heroes by God!

What exactly is a hero?......think about it…..what exactly is a hero?.....it’s not a

rhetorical question…..I suspect that when most people get asked that question

they have two reactions: - they picture the word definition of Hero…..like the

dictionary definition…..but then I would daresay that most folks also conjure an

image in their mind…..an image of a person, or character, whether real or fictional

that creates the image of hero by way of a mental picture……

So yeah…..Hero by definition means a person who is admired or idealized for

courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities……often they are someone

who rises to an occasion…..the right words, or actions, at the right time, for the

right reason in such a way that makes a difference in the lives of others…..often

those words or actions are committed in some selfless manner….with the hero

feeling the possibility of backlash, dishonor, or even death…..

Ok, so there’s a textbook description……but now for the imagery…..what do you

picture?……is there a mental image that sticks with you?......and if so, is it

someone straight out of central casting?......you know what I mean…..tall,

handsome, debonair, good hair, sharp as a tack and smooth with words, can’t

take him in a fight……..for real.

That imagery is understandable……but if you get right down to it hero’s often

seem to defy that stereotype…..to be sure there are those that look like recruiting

posters…..Pat Tillman was a former NFL football star who became an Army

Ranger…..Ronald Reagan was the dashing cowboy movie star who became the

President…..but I’ve seen just the opposite…..I remember this one big ol’ dude in

Iraq who looked like the epitome of dangerous who was the first to hide behind

others in a firefight……he didn’t stay on that team much longer, just sayin’…..

Years ago, when I was a young Lieutenant in training at Fort Benning I had a good

friend…..he was a good friend for only a matter of months as we went through

the Infantry Officers Basic Course together, but the guy left a lifelong impression

on my……his name was Bosco Msukwa and he was an Officer from Malawi,

Africa…..he wasn’t more than about 5’5 with a face that always looked like he was

smiling even when he wasn’t…..he looked like a good wind would blow him down

but I saw that guy do more than most guys who were twice his size…..once on a

ruckmarch I realized he was carrying the team gear for himself and three other

guys without complaint…..they kept dumping stuff on him and instead of

complaining he just took it on and carried the equivalent of his body weight for

miles until I saw what was happening and made it stop…..he was a rock….he

never quit….but if you looked at him you wouldn’t expect it…..

But I also remember this scrappy little kid who I’ve known since he was just a

nubbin’……90 pounds soakin’ wet, not the top in his class in High School, didn’t go

off to an Ivy League school but he’s now a Chief in the Navy Seals with 20 years of

service and multiple combat tours……..You see, I believe that most hero’s are just

ordinary Joes and Janes who stood up when they were needed……they come in all

shapes and sizes……every race and creed…..they are not defined by any

educational status……they are often considered the least among them……but they

generally always have a grit, and a character, and a heart that sets them apart…..

And if you look at scripture you will find over and over that God is notorious for

choosing the least among many to serve as his heroes……David’s family didn’t

even think for a second that he was the one that Samuel was to anoint as king

and left him out in the field…..but he was God’s chosen, he later slayed the giant

Goliath and was mighty in battle…..Gideon, he was hiding in a winepress to avoid

the enemy before he was called to leadership……Esther was a Jewish woman with

no real voice in the King’s court until she was told to speak “for such a time as

this” and she did so at the risk of her own life…..even Jesus was a surprise to

those who were looking…..really looking….for the messiah…..”what good thing

can come from Nazereth?” they said……well, even if you don’t believe he was who

he said he was the fact remains that his very existence…..which is documented

outside the Bible as being real…..his life changed the entire world……

So why am I saying all of this….because right now we are watching on the world

stage as this very thing…..this heroes from unexpected places plays out in real

time…….but we’re also watching what happens when a leader is reckless…..or a

leader is feckless……reckless leadership…..and feckless leadership…..one makes

decisions without regard for the outcome…..the other can’t make decisions

because of fear of the outcome…..and the apocalyptic scenes we are seeing right

now in California are giving us ample evidence of both……

Let’s break them down for a minute: Reckless……reckless leadership puts agendas

over people….reckless leadership sees resources as tools for their own desires as

opposed to being for the greater good…..reckless leadership looks at norms and

sees them as being trivial, inconsequential, even frivolous, and is willing to take

something meant for one thing and use it for another in order to get what they

want for their personal agenda…..classic example is Los Angeles Mayor Karen

Bass…..Mayor Bass knew that the firemen fight fires….she knew that safety and

good order are one of the primary functions of government…..but her reckless

leadership thought it better to use the City of Los Angeles’s amazing fire

department as a social experiment…..she cut the fire departments budget by over

$17 million and redesignated much of those funds to the homeless, Mayor Bass

recklessly invoked the need for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the hiring of

personnel, and proudly announced another glass ceiling when she tapped the

City’s first LGBTQ Woman to lead the LA Fire Department….because everyone

knows that when your house is burning down and your life is at risk that you

absolutely need to know what skin color and sexual orientation your rescuer

has…..then add to it all that the reservoirs that feed the fire hydrants were not

topped off because Mayor Bass hadn’t ordered their levels checked and refilled

prior to a fire season that comes every year…..all of this despite the fact that

Mayor Bass has a long history of wind-driven fires every year as history to draw

from but she recklessly made decisions that are now fueling the damage caused

by massive out-of-control fires that are sweeping Los Angeles……

Next on the list: Feckless……Feckless leadership looks silly and nervous when what

is needed is confidence…..feckless leadership cracks jokes at the wrong time,

waffles on decision making, gets mad when someone doesn’t agree…...Joe Biden

takes the prize for that one……his apologists and spin doctors will tell you that

he’s on the winning side of every argument……. But the whole world see’s what is

happening and just shakes their heads in disbelief as the great City on a Hill called

America waffles and wavers in front of other nations who do not have our best

interests in mind…..But among all the many instances of Joe Biden’s fecklessness

(and there have been many!) perhaps some of the most galling examples came in

the past few days as he first went to New Orleans to attend a memorial for the

fallen in the terror incident of New Years Eve…..and he doddered, and fell asleep

during the ceremony…..and then out to California where he listened to the

reports of destruction after Air Force One shut down the airspace for over an

hour…..and after hearing the reports, and seeing the faces, and looking lost as a

coot Joe turned to the press and said, “but hey, I became a great-grandfather

today!”…..what? People are dying, and losing everything, and billions will have to

be spent to rebuild, but the President is so uncomfortable with the gravity of the

moment that he felt the need to lighten the mood by making it about him and his

family……that my friends is feckless

Reckless leaders get people killed……Feckless leaders cause more loss from

waffling and wavering……But heroes? They come in all sizes….they’re really more

often than not just normal folks…..normal folks who do abnormal things…..things

that may surprise even themselves…..don’t count out the little guy……we need

heroes…..we need them every day……we need them for such a time as

this……reckless and feckless just winds up being respect-less if you catch my

meaning…….but the little guy who says “not on my watch”…..that’s the salt of the

earth……bring us more of ‘em Lord……

And that’s a wrap for the Rightside Way…..