U-571 and Godly Leadership

I have written before about the film U-571 and what we might learn in regard to duty. Ever since I saw it the first time, I have appreciated it as study in the dynamics of leadership.

I was thinking about one of it's key thematic elements this morning. Lt. Tyler (Matthew McConnaughy) finds himself thrust into command of a sub on a dangerous mission, after having been denied his own boat. He had been denied his own sub because skipper recognized that Tyler wanted to be "one of the guys" with his crew and the war-wise skipper knew that in crisis, Tyler would be called on to make command decisions that would endanger, even to the point of death, the men who followed his commands. Skipper didn't know if Tyler had the mettle to handle those kinds of decisions. The skipper having been correct in his observations, the plot essentially follows the maturing of Tyler in the make-or-break of battle.

What struck me this morning was thinking about the advancement of the rule of Jesus Christ over the lives of men. It is a person to person thing. It is our tendency to follow the rules of polite culture and "keep it to ourselves". We go about our daily work, talk sports and weather and go back home. The really serious ones among us are guiltily concerned about get those gospel "zings" into the conversation.

In reality, if we are serious about having "Jesus is Lord" over every facet of life, we won't have to worry about whether people "notice" or not. Additionally, and this is where the leadership thing comes in, we refuse to "keep it to ourselves" because regardless of what polite culture says, TRUTH is truth for me and you, not I-have-my-truth-and-you-have-yours. In other words I will pursue what may be uncomfortable for me and for you because it is a responsibility, not because it is convenient. It is part of the leadership I believe God wants every man to pursue.

More than that, if we are called to leadership, we will need to be sure that what we are leading others to do is the right thing, THE TRUTH, not just my truth. Their lives will be affected by it one way or the other.

On the Home Front

I've not written anything "personal" since the end of last year. Well, that's not exactly true, because even if I write commentary (Joseph calls it John-mentary) on the scriptures or culture, it's not just academic.

Anyway, Cindy has been dealing with chemotherapy-induced congestive heart failure (CHF) since October 2007. Though she managed it fairly well, she had some issues the Monday after Christmas 2008 which needed medical attention. Because her cardiologist was out of town, her primary care doctor recommended that we use the emergency room at the medical center. This began a downward spiral of CHF where she was over-hydrated, under-hydrated, in cardiac ICU... long story short, she was in the hospital for almost three weeks with both heart and kidney failure. Unable to have chemo and tired of having endless cycles of blood work, medication adjustments, she opted to go into hospice care early in March.

Our hospice team has been wonderful to us. Our siblings, and my parents, our friends and church family, my boss and co-workers -- all have been forthcoming with great acts of kindness and generosity. We have been so greatly blessed through it.

Cindy has had times of extreme weakness. In that sense, she is a little better now, though still very weak. Her respiration is very shallow and she is on oxygen full-time. Her feet, ankles and legs are very swollen, like the Michelin man, and are painful. This fluid buildup is caused by her CHF -- the heart not pumping well enough to pull the fluid off. Diuretics were helping at one point in time, but they no longer do the job. This is probably due to cancerous tissue in her abdomen blocking the fluid return. She is getting to the point where not only is walking painful, but just sitting with her feet dangling is painful as well. Reclining is becoming the least painful option.

Anyway, in spite of it all, she has a sweet spirit. It has been a great pleasure, as her time may be drawing near, to be her night/weekend aide. Helping in every way I'm able to. It is a joy to show love to her in this way. We love because Christ first loved us. She called this weekend a "fairy tale" weekend, because she has felt fairly well (despite the legs) and has had enjoyable times of prayer and had enjoyed visiting. Hopefully, she will have many more "fairy tales".