Dale McGavran

Liberty > tyranny

“No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House.” Few recognize these words as the lightning rod to the beginning of a critical vote in the Virginia Convention. However, most Americans will instantly recognize the last seven words of the speech that galvanized the hearts and minds of a majority of the delegates. “…Give me liberty, or give me death.” How these words still resonate more than 240 years after they were first uttered by the patriot Patrick Henry. Meant to fire up the Virginia delegates, the lengthy speech ending in this famous phrase, did just that – barely. It was a vote so close that PNN (Patriot News Network, of course) would have shifted their 24-hour news focus to covering every angle, from possible voter fraud to hanging chads to never-ending recounts. In the end, 65 of the 125 Virginia delegates voted in favor of independence. And so the march to liberty had begun.

Now, if we were able to view history as a collage (a la “The Big Bang Theory” opening song sequence) going forward from the moment of Henry’s soul-stirring pronouncement, we would witness countless instances of individuals with the words liberty and death on their lips. We see the Soldier in the trenches near the Somme, the Marine storming the shore at Kwajalein, the Sailor engaging enemy forces at Pearl Harbor, the Airman in the skies over Vietnam, and the Coast Guardian protecting our nation’s waters against those who would do us harm.

You see, every year thousands of men and women raise their right hand and “swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic….” It is on Veterans Day that Americans come together in unity to remember and thank those who have worn the nation’s uniform in service, for Americans have long understood that liberty comes with a price. Patrick Henry, too, understood the cost of such an ideal. In the same speech to the Virginia delegates, he said these words;

“They tell us, sir, that we are weak, unable to cope with such an adversary…. Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? …Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? …Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.”

Those are the words of a man who believed that liberty was so incredibly valuable, that if denied the right to its access, he would, as he said, rather be dead. In the grand scheme, there are few things equal to the value of liberty. At least Patrick Henry thought so…and about 1% of the population at any one time thinks so too. You see, that is the percentage of Americans today that serve in uniform. Not a lot, but enough. Just like in Henry’s day, today’s American military is invincible against any force that that enemy can send against it.

Like Patrick Henry and 64 of the other Virginia delegates, Americans have historically placed such high regard for liberty that they go to places far away to fight tyranny and those forces which would steal liberty from the innocent. Whether one agrees with this principle or not, Americans have fought the enemies of liberty around the world; from Nazi Germany to Communist North Korea to right here at home against those who would enslave others because of skin color. The surprise is not that there are those who seek to rule over others by abusive power, but that there are those who would answer liberty’s call even when the possible outcome is death.

Let me close with these final thoughts. Liberty is an incomparable thing. A couple of thousands of years ago, the apostle Paul reminded us that even though levels of liberty are found in various aspects of life, true liberty is found only in the presence of the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 3:17 he writes, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Like Paul, Patrick Henry understood that God was the real key for liberty to be realized. Listen one more time to words from his “Give me liberty” speech; “Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations….”

Today, on Veteran’s Day, we celebrate those who serve and who have served in that invincible force we call the United States military. All for the cause of liberty.

Hope is a Weapon

I recently toured Ellis Island in New York City. It was fascinating to walk through the building where millions of people started a new life draped in one word – hope. Many had nothing but the clothes on their back and perhaps a trunk filled with their most prized possessions. Most left families behind in Europe, all in the hope (there’s that word again) that a new home would bring new possibilities. Men, women, and children lined up to be examined by doctors and labeled acceptable or not acceptable for entrance into the United States. Whatever their standing in life; whatever existence they were about to pursue; whatever dream or aspiration was on their heart – they all had one thing in common: hope.

This small word packs such a powerful punch. No one ever walks through life successfully without it. Hope is present in conversations parents have with their children. It is right there when a doctor is describing the next step in treatment for his patient. It permeates commencement speeches at high schools and colleges around the world each graduation season. It is everywhere…yes, even in the movies. “Dunkirk” came out several months ago. In one of the trailers for the movie, the voice-over guy makes the announcement, “hope is a weapon.” Yes it is, voice-over guy. You see, hope is not just an idea that floats around in the imagination. It is real. It is substance. And yes, it is a weapon.

On Christmas night in 1776, hope was in the forefront. General George Washington, along with about 2,500 men crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack on enemy forces in encamped in Trenton, New Jersey. The attack was a success. The timing could not have been better. Men were walking away in droves because of the lack of food, supplies, coats, shoes, and pay. The revolution stood at the brink of collapse. If something wasn’t done soon, the Continental Army would not be an army at all. But Washington was not about to give up. He called for a plan that would turn the tide and give a much-needed boost to the men. It was crazy, really. He would take his small army of 2,500 men (less than half of his planned strength of 5,500), cross the river at night in freezing cold, march several miles into Trenton, and surprise the sleeping Hessians. Of course, the plan did not unfold as Washington had envisioned. Plans rarely do, even the best. The Continental Army arrived hours later than intended. They had much fewer numbers than called for. It was a recipe for disaster. But Washington, being the great leader he was, had an ace up his sleeve – – hope. And it was a good thing he did. The victory brought a renewed fighting spirit to the men. The Continental Army would live to fight another day.

Some might argue whether hope is really a weapon. Sure, I know it is not a tangible thing that one can actually physically touch, like a sword or a musket. But I would argue that on that particular Christmas night in 1776, hope was more powerful than any gun a soldier carried. It was more piercing than any saber an officer wore at his side.

Ask any leader today, and they will tell you the same thing. Hope is critical. If one wants to thrive in any environment, hope must be present. Remember the words of the prophet Isaiah; “…but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31) Who would not want to soar like an eagle or run and not grow tired and weary?

If you are in a place of uncertainty today, put yourself in the shoes of the young mother or father standing in the registry room in the Ellis Island Immigration Center. Rediscover hope. Hope for a new beginning. Hope for a new dream. Renew your hope today and you will see that Isaiah’s words are true; and you will see…hope is a weapon.

Bad Company (no, not the band)

When George Washington was a young boy, he copied down what was known in his time as “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.” During a visit to his estate at Mount Vernon a couple of years ago, I picked up a copy of these rules. Some are quite obvious. Others are more obscure, seemingly irrelevant for today. One has to get past the style that the rules are written in. However, once you do, it clearly is a brilliant guide for how to treat family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers.

Rule number 56 is one that is particularly interesting. Here is what it says: “Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you Esteem your own Reputation; for ’tis better to be alone than in bad Company.” Now, there is a lot of great wisdom in that sentence. Many parents have warned their children to be careful who they spend time with, or as this rule says, associate with. No parent wants to witness his or her son or daughter be led down a dark path by someone who is supposed to be a friend. No one desires to see their friend plummet down the wrong course in life because of bad company. This only seems natural. Now, we should not ignore those going down a road of destruction. We should help those we can, including those walking that dark path, but that is a conversation for another day.

Now, history is full of individuals who had great potential, but because of who they associated with, they are looked upon with a less than stellar reputation. One such example is Warren G. Harding. He had such great potential. Just read the first sentence from his presidential inaugural address: “My Countrymen, When one surveys the world about him after the great storm, noting the marks of destruction and yet rejoicing in the ruggedness of the things which withstood it, if he is an American he breathes the clarified atmosphere with a strange mingling of regret and new hope.” The end of the Civil War was just a generation past and the First World War had come to an end less than two years prior. So it is not difficult to imagine Harding uttering the words of regret and hope in the same breath. Sadly, he died before he could finish his term as President of the United States. Sadder still is the reputation that followed his death.

Mention the name Warren G. Harding today, and most just scratch their head. There is no shortage of Americans who know nothing of the man. Those that might remember his name most likely remember it only because of the scandal surrounding a plot of land in Wyoming, known as Teapot Dome. In this situation, Harding had authorized the transfer of control of the land to the Department of the Interior, under the direction of Albert Fall. Fall then leased the land to oil company friends without any bidding competition, receiving money under the table for his assistance in making this happen. The scandal is much more complex, but this was the gist of the issue. In the end, Harding’s reputation had again taken a hit even though Albert Fall was the cause. This scandal and others occurred in part, because of Harding’s involvement with the wrong crowd, or in the words of the rules of civility, “bad Company”.

One can only hope that had he chosen different friends and associates, Harding’s story would be told differently today. Leaders know that they have to influence the environment. Leadership involves taking individuals from multiple backgrounds and forming them into a cohesive team with a good reputation, and succeeding in the mission ahead. Great leaders also know that they may have to rescue someone from going down the wrong path. But the leader must never become the cause of destruction nor wallow in destructive habits. Solomon, in chapter one of the book of Proverbs, grabs his bullhorn and warns readers what will happen if they become cohorts, like Harding, with the wrong crowd. His writes: “My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.” (verse 10); “my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths.” (verse 15); “Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it.” (verse 19)

Forrest and Dwight: Why do others follow?

Forrest Gump is one of my favorite movies. In it, Forrest’s mother dies and so he decides to go running. What follows is a lengthy clip of him running from coast to coast numerous times. After a period of time, people start to take notice of this strange Alabamian running around the country. What follows are several scenes where others begin to run with him, one individual even saying that he would follow Mr. Gump anywhere. Dozens more join Forrest, who by now is sporting a beard. The sequence culminates with Forrest, looking like something out of “The Revenant”, stopping on a lonely road in Utah. Someone in the crowd of runners calls for silence because Forrest is about to lay down some earth-shattering thought, some deep philosophical statement. Instead, the crowd hears that the one they have been following for days, months, and years, is tired and is going to go home now. I love what one of them says; “Great, now what are we supposed to do?” What indeed. The bottom just dropped out their world. But Forrest had every right to want to go home. He had run for three years, two months, fourteen days, and sixteen hours. I run and I am ready to quit after about an hour. I cannot imagine running for 28,072 hours. Of course, he slept, ate, and …went (code word for going to the bathroom), as he tells the elderly woman on the bench. But still, that was a long time.

No one, not even Forrest, could explain why runners (who apparently had nothing better to do than run around the country with a complete stranger) were drawn to him. But they were. Attraction is a curious thing. Men and women are attracted to each other; newly washed cars attract rain storms; moths are attracted to light; my clothes attract the dog’s hair. Some things can be rationalized, others cannot.

Leaders attract too. For some unknown reason, individuals see great leadership and want to be near the action. There is probably some scientific theory that seeks to explain it. But in the end, it is likely a combination of things…kind of like a recipe. Heap in the inspiration; pour in honesty; measure in humility; add transparency and integrity; stir in commitment, hope, accountability, and compassion. Then, and only then, do you begin to formulate what it is that makes up a leader.

General Eisenhower reflected these same kind of traits. Now, he was not perfect – no one is, except Jesus. But, one of my favorite leadership stories has General Eisenhower sitting down to write a letter detailing the beginning of Operation Overlord – the D-Day invasion. In the letter he outlines his confidence in success because of the past work of the men on the ground, the Airmen overhead, and those on the home front building the tanks, ships and aircraft. In other words, success occurred not because of his wisdom, strategy, or the stars on his shoulder. General Eisenhower also penned a second, briefer message in case the operation proved a failure. In this message, Eisenhower took a few sentences to explain that the invasion failed, not because of the troops, the Navy, nor the Airmen, because they did all they could do. The blame was all on him. In other words, the mission failed because he did not lead well enough. Now that is integrity. That is the kind of thing that attracts individuals and causes them to want to follow another.

Great leaders know the importance of integrity. They know that without it, they are on a lonely journey. In the tenth chapter of the book of Proverbs, verse nine states, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.” It is natural to want to feel secure in your mission, your work, your everything. Proverbs reminds us that security is unquestionably linked to integrity.

We never really find out why all of those people started to run with Forrest. I guess the director did not feel it was important to the storyline. It was, after all, a fictional movie. One thing that is not fiction though is the relationship between great leadership and integrity. They go hand-in-hand. If you become a leader with integrity you will find security. If you become a leader with integrity, you will find others following you anywhere, coast to coast or maybe even on a road in Utah.

Courageous Leadership

Courage is a theme found in the lives of all great leaders. Courage to do the right thing even when no one else seems to care. Courage to risk everything. Courage to face danger against insurmountable odds. Courage to face one’s failures. Courage to know that it takes a team to get anything done. All great leaders search for, discover, and put into action, courage. All of them. Captain Joseph McConnell was one of these courageous leaders.

When I was in the 4th and 5th grade, I read a book titled “Sabre Jet Ace”. Maybe I should quantify that statement, because I did not just read the book once. I read it multiple times…at least a dozen. If possible, it would have become a part of my DNA. To say I loved this book is probably an understatement. It was loosely based on the life of Joseph McConnell. Early on, McConnell desired to be a fighter pilot. But after entering the Army Air Forces, he was assigned to navigator responsibilities. Of course, it was not what he wanted. However, he flew numerous missions during World War II as a B-24 navigator. Some might have given up their dream after this, but not McConnell. His chances for piloting a fighter aircraft were not over. He had the courage to press on, to chase his dream. So, following the end of the war, he entered flight training and eventually became a pilot.

Soon after earning his pilot wings, the United States found itself back at war, this time on the Korean peninsula. Captain McConnell wanted to get to Korea to fight, and in September 1952, that dream too, was realized. McConnell did not shoot his first enemy jet down until the following January, but he wasted no time in getting multiple kills. In the next four months he would become the United States’ first triple ace, shooting down a total of 16 enemy aircraft. Joseph McConnell was a man of great courage. Every time he strapped himself into the cockpit of his F-86, he had to have known it might be his last. What drives someone to do that? Courage, and this guy had plenty of it.

After returning from Korea, Captain McConnell became a test pilot. Courage was again on full display as he took to the air, testing a new version of the F-86. Sadly, on 25 August 1954, Joseph McConnell died while test flying an F-86H. On that day, America lost not only a pilot with great skills, but a leader with great courage.

Whenever I think of courageous leadership, I am reminded of God’s words to Joshua. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) Joshua took those words with him across the Jordan and into the Promised Land. Did he have the courage to do the right thing when no one else seemed to care? Of course. Remember, he and Caleb were the only two who believed God’s promise entering the new land. Did he have the courage to risk everything? Oh yeah. Did he display the courage necessary to face danger, insurmountable odds, and personal failure? You better believe it. Does Ai ring a bell? How about his being deceived by the Gibeonites? Both moments of potential catastrophic failure. But recovery was an option, and Joshua clung to it. Finally, Joshua was courageous because he realized that action taken only by him would not amount to much. Any courageous leader knows it takes a group, a neighborhood, a team, to be great.

How about you? What can you do to become a courageous leader? The world is waiting. We need you.

The New Journey

As I start on this journey, I want to first convey how all of this originated. You see, I have been fascinated with history since junior high school. As a 30-year veteran of the Air Force, I sought ways to communicate leadership principles through the amazing stories of those I read about in the history books that line my shelves. Then I thought about how I could integrate those two ideas (leadership and history) into the stories of faith that I had studied for years. This blog is the result of how relating these three areas has inspired me and made me want to be a better person.

My heroes from those books had names like George Washington, Wilbur and Orville Wright, Colin Powell, George Marshall, and many more. What made them stand out? Why did they prove to be men and women of greatness? What propelled them through failure to ultimate success? As I uncovered some of what I thought were the answers, I wanted to relate them to others. Again, that is the point of this journey.

Just like everything in life, people will interpret something in any number of ways. This journey just happens to be how I look at the relationships between faith, leadership, and history. You, no doubt, will look at it through a different lens. That is why diversity is such a great thing.

An an amateur just starting out, I welcome conversation, and of course, any positive suggestions for improvements. Here I go…