CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
March 28, 2010
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.blakehart.com/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS:
God’s will for our congregation Various relatives, friends and co-workers
Our nation, military and leaders The spread of the good news
COURAGE, HOPE AND HONOR
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God as established. The authorities that exist have been established by God” (Romans 13:1).
A really good movie is The Blind Side. It’s a true story of a big, young black man named Michael Orr from the inner city who was taken to a private school to get an education. His IQ was 80 when he started but for the coach who saw him shoot baskets, and his size, he was a prospective football player. A white couple played by Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw, takes him in, gets to know him, and begins to help him in his studies and skills as a player. In his senior year, in order to get a football scholarship, he need to raise his grade in one class by writing an essay. Michael was struggling with what to write about when Tim McGraw starts quoting part of a poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” What Michael saw in the poem was that of courage, hope and honor (1).
When the poem was quoted, I remembered the old Errol Flynn movie of the same name (2). Lord Tennyson wrote the poem after reading a little story about the battle that occurred during the Crimean War. From what I’ve read about it, there was a rivalry between two brothers-in-law. Due to this and bad intelligence, nine British, Irish and Scot units charged what they thought were the Russians moving artillery to another location, but in reality were dug in cannons. One third of the cavalry were killed or wounded and only a third had horses after the attack. While it enhanced the British cavalry, the charge was considered “a symbol of military stupidity and blindly obedient courage” (3).
“Half a league half a league, Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred:
‘Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns’ he said:
Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
‘Forward, the Light Brigade!’ Was there a man dismay’d?
Not tho’ the soldier knew Some one had blunder’d:
Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die,
Into the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred.”
One French general said that “It is magnificent, but it is not war.” And a Russian general said, “It is madness.” Michael Orr grasped the reality of the situation when he said that they would all died. From this he wrote his essay on courage and honor, and also with hope.
Courage, hope and honor. Not much has changed over the years. When reading of the battles of World War I, the trench warfare and the blind charges into “no-man’s land,” it would be easy to quote “Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die.” We can see the same during World War II at Normandy and the battles of the Pacific Islands. Often we find our military fighting this year’s war with the last war’s tactics. When I was growing up I use to watch the World War II and Korean War movies. They were exciting. But as I grew older, I learned what my dad told me once. One of the big war movies of the sixties was “The Longest Day,” which told the story of D-Day, June 6, 1944. I had seen it several times. The movie theater even had a Sherman tank in front. When my dad saw it, he was moved in a different way. My dad was from Scotland. It was his homeland that was being bombed. One of his brothers was wounded in World War I. In commenting on the landings at Normandy, my dad was sad because men died before they even got to the shore. I don’t enjoy those movies as much anymore; the scenes stay with me longer and I am bothered by them.
Paul Harvey use to say, old men make wars and young men go off and fight them. That’s why we pray for our troops. I’m not a pacifist. I realize that evil exists, and though it may be a lack of faith on my part, evil must be confronted. Gandhi thought that if the Jews just lay down and die, that it would shame Hitler and Germany. His experience however was not with a dictatorship but a God-fearing people in the British. I would like to think that nationally, practicing the words of Jesus would be successful; it isn’t. Individually it can and should be.
Courage, hope and honor. Courage is not something we learn. It comes when we are faced with choices, especially life and death ones. Our choice will be either honorable or dishonorable. It will reflect whether our lives match our words. We can bring glory to God, or not, by our responses. Lemoine Lewis was a professor of church history at Abilene Christian University. He told of how the early Christians would walk into the coliseums facing death, oblivious to their surroundings, praying and singing. There is courage and honor!
But courage and honor must have hope. There is more to life than this life. We look forward to the future, to the new heavens and new earth. In the meantime, we live in the here and now. Even in war, if one sees hope for the future, then courage and honor can follow. For Christians, we should see hope for the future, and live honorable lives, and if necessary, face death with courage. That’s a big challenge. We prepare as best we can. One never knows when one will come face to face with death.
“Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them
Cannon behind them Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well Came thro’ the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell, All that was left of them, Left of six hundred.
When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder’d Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred!”
George B. Mearns
(1) Michael Orr went on to be an All-American football player as well as making the Dean’s List at Old Miss and now plays for the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL.
(2) The movie shows a rivalry between the British and Turks, so that part of the movie is historical fiction. But the charge appears to be accurate in its details.
(3) www.answers.com