THE LAST RIVER MILE

Elaine (my wife) and I have been watching Tom Hanks’ documentary series on the Second World War. We just finished the episode covering the Allied invasion of Normandy in France. This happened under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower. At some point in preparation for this precarious, massive operation, Eisenhower said something to the effect that if the effort to establish a beach head in occupied Western Europe failed, it would be his responsibility. Eisenhower accepted the full, ominous weight of leadership.

Eventually we will see the episode in which President Harry S Truman makes the horrific decision to drop the first atomic bombs on Japan. Truman weighed the alternatives and did the “math” in terms of allied and Japanese loss of life. He accepted responsibility for a leadership step that will be second -guessed for the rest of history. Right or wrong, the man famous for “The Buck Stops Here” sign on his desk knew that it would fall on him.

In contrast to this type of leadership, it seems that too many leaders of all types today have made an art form of placing blame on someone or something else. Elaine and I don’t watch “The Simpsons”, but somehow we heard Homer Simpson’s iconic line, “It’s everybody’s fault but mine!” We’ve joked about it over the years, but in these present days it’s not that funny. It’s all too real. Whether it’s the outcome of votes, programs, events, military actions or whatever, too many leaders point fingers elsewhere when results are as yet uncertain or when things don’t go well. Few leaders openly state, “This is all on me.” I don’t know many who would lay on themselves the pivotally important decisions like Operation Overlord or whether or not to deploy “Little Boy” and “Fat Man.”

Saul of Tarsus, better known by his Jesus-following name Paul (literally “little one” or “humble one”) was an early leader among those who followed Jesus of Nazareth. He had a very realistic view of himself. He knew that as a disciple of Jesus the Christ and as a leader he had done some things well and some things poorly. (See Romans 7:19.) He placed blame nowhere else, and recognized his own hopelessness apart from Jesus. For those of us trying to walk in the way of Jesus now, this is our model. As a subset of this, leaders must be self-aware and must be willing to accept responsibility.

I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.