Leadership Lessons from Return of the Jedi

I'm going to post a few notes each day about what I learned about leadership from Return of the Jedi. *Spoiler Alert*

 The first one is this: Good leaders, even if they have fallen out of the saddle, and retreated to sort things out, are willing to get back up on their horse and lead when the time is ready.

 The older Luke Skywalker is found hidden away, far from the madd'ing crowd, on an island far from society. Ironically, in real life, the site where they filmed Skywalker's hermitage is Skellig Michael, one of the earliest monastic locations in Ireland. You had to be brave to live there but you went there to get away from the world and focus on God. It was for extreme seekers. You had to know how to dig deep to make it there. Luke Skywalker had long retreated from the public eye. He's tried to forget that he's gifted. He's tormented by his failure. When Rey comes and starts to feel the Force, she stares at him boldly and says, "but I couldn't feel you in it, you've cut yourself off from it, haven't you!?"

Luke knows that being on the razor edge of fighting for good puts you up close to bad, and that you can lose your balance. But he has cut himself off from the Source of his life. He is trying, like the prophet Jonah, to run from his call and bury his gift. Good leaders deal with the mess of sorting this out in their own lives. Sometimes it takes time. Working through the process of failure is what makes them good at leading when they get back up! Good leaders acknowledge that spiritual battle has real dangers and work through it. It makes them more aware of their need for God. Good leaders don't go forward in their own power, they know when to retreat, but they also know when its time to rise back up.

Sometimes they need help, a mentor like Yoda, or a reason to do it, like the young Jedi warrior Rey showing up on his proverbial stone doorstep asking for help. Rey knows she has a gift, but she needs "someone to show me my place in all this." We all need that methinks. We don't care that you've failed, we want you to use what you have to help us because if we have come asking for help we recognize that you still know more than we do--even when you have failed. If your heart is right, you get past the failure, learn from it and become a better warrior, even a mentor. If it's not, you die on the island alone and let the world fall into the hands of the enemy.

On the Old Landmarks Disappearing

Today, I walked to the corner of the street where I have lived a good deal of my life.
Today, it was so very different.  The house on the corner of my street was sitting mostly in
a dumpster: knocked down to make progress. I honestly did not recognize what I was looking
at. The old landmark was gone. This is the fourth time that this has happened this year
and its strangely symbolic.  The local developer decided to buy up as much land  as he
could going down my street.. This last house was 30 year hold out. They just wouldn't sell
even though the house was abandoned, derelict, and had not been inhabited for decades.
In some ways it should have been demolished long ago, in others, it should have been
restored. Nevertheless, it was still a landmark with its own warning message.

The house next to it was demolished just before this one.  My friends lived there when
I was a child and when I told them, we were upset together. Before it was demolished
I went up to the empty window, stuck my head inside, and what hit me was a wave
of happy childhood memories.  Scores of people had lived there since the days that
I had  played there but just for a moment, it was 1967. Time is wobbly like that..

The house next to that one had been demolished last fall.  The last occupants were
a black lady and her son and her dog, Precious. That's how I got Precious.--the
people  had to move to make way for "progress" and progress didn't care one whit
that Precious would not be permitted to stay in the only other housing available
to the family.  So, while I leave out a lot of the story, I inherited the dog I vote most
like Jesus. My other dogs have not been the greatest Christians, this one outdoes me,
paws down.

Then the house two doors down from me, also fell to the wrecking ball. It shook
our house for two days and I couldn't bear to look.  It was Miss White's old house
and it was built the same year that ours was. Now instead of telling people that are
trying to find my house that I am the sixth house on the right, I will have to tell them
something entirely different. Somehow, that is just plain eerie.

Do you know why I've told you all this? Because in a similar way our spiritual
landmarks are disappearing and the wrecking ball is right next door shaking our
houses and I wanted you to ponder that with me.

 The dictionary describes landmark as "a prominent or conspicuous object on land 
that serves as a guide, especially to ships at sea or to travelers on a road, a 
distinguishing landscape feature marking a site or location."

Today when I walked down to the corner, I felt the exact same feeling of dis-ease
 that I've been feeling for several years spiritually.  I will miss the sense of coming
toward home and seeing that which marks my home area, that which is familiar
and comforting in its gift of stability. It's all changed and until I get used to it,
its going to bother me. Some change is required, some contains a deeper message.

Those landmarks had been there since I was a child. I had watched similar
ones fall along the way, but now it was right next to me, Likewise spiritually.
Proverbs tells us:"Remove not the ancient landmark," (Proverbs 22:28) 

There is good spiritual reason for that:  remove what is meant to guard
and soon a generation and all that come after will not be able to find their way.

If the foundations be shaken, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3)
Our spiritual landscape is changing and nothing much looks or feels familiar.
Landmarks give us a sense of stability and order. They guide us.  They help us know
our boundaries and  respect our space. If they disappear how will we
know that we are still on the right path?

Most of the people I respected as leaders as I grew up spiritually are now
with the Lord. I heartily lament this. I often sit and wonder what they would be
preaching or saying now, here, this very minute. Others have lost their way or changed
their path, or I'm not sure.what. They don't feel the same. They don't sound the
same.  They don't preach the same--if they still preach and not just chat.from
the pulpit, if there even still is a pulpit.

When did everything change? When did the One Way sign change to Multiplex Rotary
Ahead?  When did the Stop sign change to Pause and then Sneak Through?
When did the Red Light have a Rainbow painted over it? When did  the Wrong Way
sign get replaced with Any Way You Want Will Get You There? Our landmarks
have disappeared, shifted, or are being replaced.  Some may have needed to be, most
did not

Much earlier in our North American history explorers would set a landmark  to mark
a land claim as their own. Later, unscrupulous others would come and remove the landmarks
thus taking things that were not theirs to take. A very different America emerges
if that had not happened. Compare that to the current spiritual landscape.


The Book of Job says, "Some remove the landmarks, they seize and devour the flocks"
(Job 24:2). Landmarks are removed to confuse and erase boundaries. They undo order and
leave the flocks open to danger.  So what are we to do?

God says, "One more time will I shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the
dry land and I will shake all nations and the Desire of  Nations shall come" (Haggai
2: 6 &7, )

Now we must set our eyes on Jesus alone. All is being stripped away in the purposes
and plan of God. We must seek the Truth that is revealed in and by Christ Jesus. He
alone must now be our Landmark and our High Tower. Lesser things, even all things
that are not built on the Firm Foundation of Christ, will be swept away in the coming
storm.  On Christ the Solid Rock I now must stand, for surely all other ground is sinking
sand.

Peter wrote to early Christians, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery
trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you, But
rejoice inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ suffering, that , when His glory
shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy "(I Peter 4:12, 13) .

Beloved, this is not gong to be an easy time.  We find ourselves in a sea of confusion
and we must navigate by the Son alone.  All shall be well if we are focused on Him,
but do take care.

Never Laugh at Live Dragons.....

"Never laugh at live dragons"--Bilbo Baggins, "The Hobbit" 

photo taken at Bishop's Castle, Rye, Colorado

Wearing Out the Saints of the Most High

And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. Daniel 7:25


The prophet Daniel writes these words as he sees future events unfolding to him in  a vision scarier
than a horror movie. He is greatly agitated because this is not a movie, but a warning and a preview
of what will happen in the latter days. Daniel sees the Antichrist rising, and he sees these two things:
that the Antichrist will "speak great words against the Most High" and "shall wear out the saints of the most  High."  These words are written for our benefit and we need to take heed to what it is they
are warning us about.

The enemy of our souls has many techniques that he uses against the saints of God.  In this verse
it says that he shall "wear out" the saints of the most High.  Life can be a long journey. We start
out well, but the question is, will we finish well? It is question we all must prepare to answer with a
resounding "yes!"   It is the strategy of the devil, even now, to wear us out, bit by bit, without our
noticing how drained we have gotten. And from the looks of it, he is winning a lot of ground. Jesus tells us, in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25), that five were very foolish and did not labor to prepare for the long period of darkness that came while they were waiting for the bridegroom. The darkness was longer than they expected and took more preparation then they realized

In this parable Jesus places both the responsibility of preparation and the blame of  not preparing, on the virgins themselves. So in this it is important to see that while the devil is our enemy, we are the ones who decide what will happen to us.

The Antichrist (and the apostle John has told us that many antichrists are already in the world at work) will wear out or wear down the saints.  Have you ever been so tired that you could make no
effort? Have you ever been so discouraged that you could not get up? God gives to His servants
all that they need to accomplish His will. But that impartation can be whittled away. How does this happen? In several ways! In the first part of verse 25 it says that the Antichrist will speak "great words against the most High."

Even now many words are spoken against the most high and we feel the affects of them.  People live in godless ways and speak of godless things. In Ezekiel 13, God speaks against false prophets who speak in such a way that the righteous are made sad and discouraged:  "Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life " (Ezekiel 13:7) . Here it is not even the heathen that are speaking with  ungodliness but false prophets who say they are from God! Let the reader ponder this!

To hear things that grieve the heart of God, and to see things that grieve the heart of God wears
upon the souls of the godly.  This exposure to evil is not going away and is promised to increase as we near the day of the Lord's victorious return,  so we must learn to guard our hearts with the truth that God will soon blow away the wicked and His kingdom of goodness will be an everlasting one. The problem and effects of evil will be with us until the Lord's coming but we must see past the temporal and encourage our hearts in the eternal.

A second way that we are worn down is to spend our time and resources on that which does not
satisfy.   God asks, "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live (Isaiah 55: 2 &3). 

God admonishes us to incline our ears to listen to Him and to delight ourselves in rich food!
I am sure that He does not mean cheesecake! We must feed upon the rich food of the Word,
upon meat and not milk. Milk is not meant to sustain an adult whether spiritually or naturally.
If we are only nibbling at empty tidbits and the words of men, rather than learning to eat for 
ourselves from the grand buffet of God's meaty word, than we will soon be weak and thus, will
 be worn out. Satan seeks to rob us by putting spiritual junk food in front of us. Thinking we are full we soon fall flat because we have no nutrients. 

Another way that we get worn out is to do more than God has asked us to. Jesus said,   
 “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (John 5:19).
So often we think that "more" is more valuable spiritually. So often we do not ask God if He
wants us to do something, we just do it thinking it is a good idea. So often we buy into the world's idea of what a full life is: to be busy is to be someone important and to be living life with gusto.
This will soon wear us down to a thread. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing and 
showing Him to do.  And so often we are lured into busyness by the will of others and made to
feel bad if we do not pipe to their musical cacophony.  So let us be careful.

There, also, are seasons in life when things swing out of control and we are thrown into situations that will wear us down and there is nothing we can do about it--but that should not be ALL  of our life.  God allows certain of these ordained seasons to see if we will draw on His strength. During these times we draw upon the wells of  deep water in our spirits -- hours and days of time we have spent with God in quiet and confidence during quieter days and from the Holy Spirit who ministers grace in due season.  It is that stockpile that carries us through.

These seasons are times of testing and times when we learn more fully to not trust in our own strength but in the merciful strength that God has planted within us for such a season.  Later, when the trial is over, there is time when God gives us a chance to rest and we must take it and see its value as equally important to our busiest God-ordained movement. Our strength needs constant replenishing. If we let our strength run dry we will be like the foolish virgins whose lamp goes out just when it is most needed. This is  the plan of the enemy and  a most important consideration for all of us in these days.

Travel Light

I have a beautiful Border Collie that has come to stay with me, most likely permanently.
Her name is Precious, and so she is! Gentle, sweet, loving and intense as Border
Collie's can be. She came to me with literally nothing--no possessions.  As always, I am
learning a lot from her.  Border Collies like to herd, as I am finding out. As she has
begun to amass possessions with the proclivity of a raven--a stuffed toy, various bones,
 a ball, a hard piece of bread, her dog bowl, she herds them all into her bed. Then she lays
 down on them so she can make sure they are "safe."   Sometimes when I call her and
she won't come its because she is "on guard duty" on her bed.  She counts all the items,
I think, because I have taken things from her bed when she is not looking and then I
soon find the item back in her bed.

All of this reminds me very much of how we, as humans, can relate to our possessions.
We start out with our birthday suit and pretty soon we can't get out of our bed, even
when the Master calls, because we are "watching our stuff."

Sometimes I put food in the bowl in her bed. and then I go back and gently pretend that
I am going to take it back. She is very good--she would not growl at  me or refuse me the
right to take it back, but she does a good job at herding me off in another direction--
the old "hey, look over there" trick. She does let me take the food back, but
it creates anxiety in her. Hmm...now do you or I get like that when God touches our stuff?

We know all our things belongs to Him, we know we are His, and all that we have
came to us from Him. We came with nothing, but now we get nervous if He starts to
"touch" our "stuff." Perhaps we had less when we had no worldy possessions, but then
we get them and anxiety about taking care of them fills our minds. And this does not just
apply to physical items but to the very essence of our lives--we guard our lives, and the more
vigilant a personality we are, the more we guard it.    Border Collies are not slackers,
they are type A personalitie--they are on the job 24/7.  But that trait can work against
them when they are put in charge of minding things--because they don't know when
to stop and call it a day. They don't know when to go home and  go to bed because
even in their bed they have to guard! Yikes!

All I can tell you is that there is a big lesson in all this: If you are the Lord's Border Collie,
give all your items back to Him. Travel light, my friend.  

Putting Away That Which Hinders

"Comrades in this solemn fight- this awful conflict with awful powers- let us settle it as something that cannot be shaken: We are here to live holy, loving, lowly lives. We cannot do this unless we walk very, very close to the Lord Jesus. Anything that would hinder us from the closest walk that is possible to us till we see Him face to face is not for us. We need to be sensitive to the first approach of the hindering thing. For the sake of the souls that may be stumbled if we turn even ever so little aside, for the sake of our Master's glory- dearer surely to us than all else- let us ask Him to show us whether in anywise we have been showing crooked patterns." - Amy Carmichael

(trees in a massive windstorm, Feeding Hills, MA)

On the Journey with Jesus!

The boat on the sea is one of the earliest Christian symbols for the church in its journey through the world. Just as the boat is tossed about by the waves so is the church pounded from all sides by worldly and spiritual forces hostile to the kingdom of God. In the midst of crises, Jesus comes to restore peace and harmony in His church. But He comes in a form and manner in which He is easily mistaken for the enemy. He comes in a way that makes many well-meaning Christians cry out in fear “It is a ghost!” (Matthew 14:26) as they try to keep Him out. But if we listen carefully we shall hear through the storm His soft, gentle voice whispering in the wind, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid” (verse 27). ....

May the Lord increase our little faith so that in all the storms of life we shall have our eyes and our trust constantly fixed on Jesus and His power and not on ourselves and our weaknesses

--Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, CSSP (A Holy Ghost Father)

photo taken at the Abby Church of St. Edmunds, Bury St. Edmund, UK  

Enduring the Heat of Adversity

When it is hot in the kitchen of your life, and you don't feel you can eat what you are being
served. then endure the heat of adversity so  you will be able to say  "When He has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).




photo taken in Granville, MA
"fresh organic chilies" :)