Although it's still early, we've been talking all week about this hurricane. It's kind of a big deal because we just had a major earthquake on the east coast that could have caused damage as yet undetected. The ground is already saturated. Which else of the plagues will we see? Will there be riots like in Brixton, Bristol, and Birmingham? Are these signs of the times?
One other major sign of the times is a distinct absence of leadership from certain individuals. The other night, a friend of mine told me on the phone that he though the president had done a good job as commander in chief. I disagree. I see a clear absence of leadership from the president. Like the British Prime Minister said, we hear a lot of talk about rights, and authority, without mention of the attendent responsibilities. Obama wanted to be president, and he got it, with all the duties appertaining thereunto.
Watch from 3:22 to the end of the clip.
When I was in high school, even though Tropical Storms Albert and Beryl didn't actually hit our areas, we pitched in. I remember getting on a bus with a bunch of adults from the church and community and driving from the Florida panhandle up into southern Georgia where the rivers had swollen and taken out towns along its banks. Although it was during the school week, we were exempted from school and loaded up to pitch in as well as a 15-year-old boy could to alleviate the suffering of others. It was an experience that transformed my life, and I thank God for that experience. There were no big names. We were just ordinary Americans coming together in a crisis. We made no excuses. We went to work.
All the president seems to do is make excuses and avoid work. He has stayed on vacation despite the earthquake and impending hurricane. Obama says he wanted to spend time with his kids, yet he's on the golf course every day, at fundraisers and expensive dinners. He's not there to spend time with his children, and now that the tempest is raging, he's not where he ought to be either.
The one time I got written up at my last job was when I had a supervisor who refused to act like one. There is a literal "Katrina moment" looming just offshore. A caring leader would want to leave his vacation and return to his desk to do the right thing. Instead, Obama's so massochistic that he does not even go through the motions. He clothes himself in odd old ends stolen forth from holy writ and seems a saint when most he plays the devil. He ought to be in the situation room getting ready. That was his criticism of Bush during Katrina- that the government wasn't acting. Obama says he's acting, and he's right. He's playing a part. It will never be said of this messiah that he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Instead, he hides as it were his face from us.
Two millenia ago, there were men in a boat under rough seas. They looked to their master when their fear grew for support and action. Jesus came up and quieted their fears and then quieted the storm. He could have lain below, confident in the knowledge that his days were known and that his years were not to be numbered fewer. However, he had compassion on those with less power, less knowledge, and less faith than he and went to the front to face the winds. If you are going to be a leader, go to the front, because the tempest will continue off and on at least to rage.
I pray that the people will be inspired to be wise and hearken to the counsel of wise local leaders. I pray that the leaders will be inspired to act as best befits their people and be on the front when the storm's front rolls in. Real leaders go to the field, where all the honor lies.
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