| Thoughts of a Modern Minuteman |
coalescing, and I believe its time to put them down on paper. Since they’re already put down, I may as well post them. Hopefully they will help some, and the rest, well… I dunno what to tell ya. I suppose you can stick around for entertainment value if you like. Be forewarned, this will be long, and may ramble about a bit, but it is for me anyway, worthwhile. You all know that if anyone is gonna make a joke (usually a lame one) in the middle of a serious topic, it’ll be me. It will most likely continue here. This does not now, nor does it ever, indicate that I am less than serious about what I believe or say, I just have learned to take my beliefs more seriously, and myself less so. Also bear in mind that I am a Christian. You will see Biblical references, a dab of theology and exposition based on that. If this offends or bothers you, well… I dunno what to tell you. You were warned. With that, I begin. I have thought much about leadership after reading an excellent post regarding leadership attributes and responsibilities posted by Hawker. With that single post Hawker, a man who had long before garnered my respect, took several steps up my respect scale. Additionally, as I was writing this, several other folks posted piercing cogent thoughts that caused me to further reflect on my place, my decisions and my ideology. All this spawned a thought, a remembrance of a line I heard in a TV show. A small girl says to her father as they leave their past lives behind, and face a very uncertain and most assuredly dangerous future “We are all shepherds now”. We all are indeed shepherds. People look at us through their own understanding, and through the lenses of what they wish to see. Everyone filters what they see through their own presuppositions, be they right or wrong. Many look on us with eyes ranging from passivity to bewilderment to disdain to outrage. So it is anytime a man takes a stand for what is right and true. With this in mind, “How shall we then live?” We must live our lives in such a manner that our light is not “Hidden under a bushel basket.” We must live to the highest standards of proficiency and professionalism standards we are able to, and strive to always grow more so. More importantly however I believe we must live our lives in a manner that is beyond reproach. We have chosen to live our adult lives in a land of great freedom, but with that freedom comes even greater responsibility. If we decry the lawlessness of a group of gang- bangers rioting in the streets, do we live our lives in a spotlessly law abiding manner? “How can you remove the speck from your brother’s eye, if you have a plank in your own?” Do we obey the law only if it is convenient? Only to the point where it runs contrary to our personal opinions? I am not advocating following patently immoral laws, but if we feel that a tax stamp is an onerous law, and saw all our shotguns down to 12 inch barrels, should we be surprised when outsiders view us all as scoff-laws; no different from the rioting gang- bangers? Attendant to that is the concept of “Show me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.” Do we allow among us those who knowingly conduct themselves in such a manner that they bring disgrace to the term “Patriot” by their flouting the law of the land they choose to continue residence in? Personally, I think the concept of having to have a card in my wallet that says I am lawfully carrying a concealed handgun rather silly. However, the law is the law, so I do. That battle is for me, not worth fighting. The gain of being a law abiding citizen warrior is far greater than being a martyr, gaining some notoriety in a rather small group of citizens for a cause celebré. That being said, if this is for me a point of some strenuous contention, am I willing to pay the full price for the stand I take? Is the loss truly worth the gain? If I take my long arm and complete the rather easy task of converting it to a fully automatic, select fire weapon without the attendant paperwork I have broken the law of the land. If I do so, when I am caught, do I pay the price for my choice and take the punishment meted out? Or do I continue to disregard the effects of my actions that I have freely chosen, play the victim, and continue with my behavior? Do I then have a right to act the martyr? I say no. I have given up the right of righteous indignation. If I do so, then I have brought discredit and rightful disdain upon myself and by association my brethren. I have given up any right I have to leadership that I may have otherwise earned. I cannot eat my cake and have it too. “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that [is] unprofitable for you.” What makes the story of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego so memorable? By virtue of the fact that they came unscathed through the punishment meted out to them? No. The remarkable fact of that story is that they willingly paid the price for their actions. It was in submission to the law of the land, accepting the price of living their faith, that honor was brought to their names and thousands of years later they are known. The fact that they were brought through a punishment far greater than any of us will ever see unscathed was simply a benefit given to them by God. Nevertheless, they submitted to the effects of their choices. We cannot allow ourselves to become the embodiment of what we say we decry, by neglecting our duty to obey the law of the land. If we say we expect others to follow a law we believe right and true that we shall set up, or return to, why should they when we won’t obey the laws we have? “We are all shepherds” We must each be the shepherd and sheepdog over the flock we are part of. We must be ever watchful and vigilant of the time and resources we have, or may rightfully acquire. This is a concept that even now I am struggling to master. How many times, have I read the entirety of Tire Irons “14 Day to a Better Shooter”? Dare I compare it to the number of times I have completed this exercise? I have been given the opportunity to get my hands on some good gear. Has that gear seen the field time it deserves? Can I rightfully speak an opinion on a matter I do not have a wealth of experience to back up with and expect my word to carry any weight? If I do not give the best of myself, what right do I have to ask more of anyone else? If I do not do the work to earn the privilege I desire today, what right do I have to enjoy it tomorrow? It is simply a matter of responsibility. I must never allow myself to be the weak link. I must not only aspire to, but strive for greatness. When we step up to put our head above the parapet so to say, to take a public stand to go against the flow of the status quo, we set ourselves up as an example, whether we like it or not. Additionally if we take up a challenge that runs this deep, that is this all-encompassing; we need to consider the ramifications of that choice. It’s all fine well and good to talk about repelling invaders, quelling insurrection, vanquishing the foes of freedom and liberty, neutralizing hordes of lurching, brain-eating zombies, or protecting from any number of foes, from within or without, but are we really missing the point? Nearly every scenario I have read, seen, or heard of involves a rebuilding of society in some manner or another. Are we seeing to it that we are capable of not just defeating those who would destroy our society, but also of rebuilding the ruins left after the conflict? We look back down the corridors of our nation’s history to the struggle that birthed our freedom, and draw example and inspiration from those men and their actions. I believe we often miss a critical point. Those were indeed great men, who struggled greatly to spawn a great nation. Firstly though, they saw to being great men. They insured that they were men of integrity, of character, of leadership, of honor. They were willing to make tough choices, and stand by them. Surely they suffered doubt and even despair at times, yet they never allowed themselves to waver. These were attributes that were deeply ingrained in them long before pamphlets were written, or shots were fired. They became men of determination by choosing time and again to attend to the small matters of life in an honorable way. Thus it became possible, if not easier, to attend to matters of seeming greater import when the time came. They had made a habit of being shepherds, willing to make unbelievable sacrifices for the greater good. If that is the example set before us, can we do any less? According to the NMS, the core unit of the fighting Militia is the “Battle Buddy”. Upon that foundation is built the entirety of the citizen Militia. We must work to develop, through constant work and improvement as well as example, that unit. The core unit of any society is the family. Upon that foundation is built the entirety of society. If we are to have anything worth fighting and dying for tomorrow, we had better attend to what we have been entrusted with today, at least as much as we tend to our duties for tomorrow. What good is it to build the finest citizen survival, preparedness and fighting force; if at the end of it all, the only people left standing by us are complete strangers? Even greater, if we are not good examples of leaders of our respective families in peacetime, when the going is so easy; how can we expect that we will not fold under pressure as leaders when the struggle and discomfort is so much greater. To put a finer point on it, if we are unworthy as leaders of our respective families, we are deluding ourselves if we think we will be any better to society at large. Those of us who have families chose them. We chose to put on that mantle of leadership first to our families, and second to everything else. For if we are not a wise and respected leader of our families, then all else is for naught. We expend great amounts of time, energy and resources on our various preparedness endeavors. Do we spend anywhere the same amount of exertion and sacrifice on our families? If we ask our families to sacrifice at times for the sake of “The Cause” for the sake of the future, have we asked “The Cause” to sacrifice for our families in the here and now? It’s easy to justify scrimping the family budget to purchase those things that we need, or think we need, but have we really quizzed ourselves down and asked, “Is it worth it to look at the want in the eyes of my wife or child, while I hold this piece of gear I chose over them?” If the answer is yes, then we have failed as a leader in that basic building block of society that we chose, and was entrusted to us. There are times when tough decisions, even unpopular decisions need to be made, but if those decisions always fall in favor of our wants and perceived needs I wonder if we are making tough decisions, or excuses to justify our own selfish wants. It’s easy to say “Even Jesus told his followers ‘if you have no sword, sell your cloak and get one’” but the reality of what is there is a bit different than one might expect. “A cloak” is neither an entire wardrobe, or if you look at the original language, it was most likely not even an essential garment. A rough analogy in modern English might be “If you have an extra Armani suit lying about, sell it and get a rifle. As an interesting side note, when Jesus asked his disciple show many had swords, two of the twelve said “I do”; to which He replied, “That’s enough.” We need to strike a balance in our daily lives. I am not saying we should all limit ourselves to one of everything. One rifle, one magazine pouch, one canteen, that is obviously wrong. If we can meet our other obligations, without letting even one suffer, and we can get a closet full of rifles, go for it. My point is to guard ourselves against greed or envy of our brothers in arms. Have I made wise choices in my purchases? What good is it to have a rifle that is the envy of everyone, and 25,000 rounds for it, but no food for me and my family? Have I done my level best to strike a balance between spending every penny I can get my hands on, and having to buy a whole new rig after every FTX, because the gear I buy doesn’t last? I began to think of how I live my daily life. If I expect others to put out one hundred percent as their manager at work, am I doing the same? Eventually they will know, if they don’t already, that I have chosen a commitment to be a Citizen Soldier. Every one of you will be judged by the example I set before those I meet and know. Have I stood Woodland Guerilla in good stead? Have I shown that Molon Labe is a man of his word, because I am a man of mine? Do they know, based on their experience with me, that Havoc is just? Will they ascribe to Scott trustworthiness, because they saw it in me? Will others say that the women who have chosen to join us are not just women, but Ladies because they see me conduct myself as a gentleman? Am I slovenly in my habits? Few of us are granted the gift of the body of an Adonis or an Aphrodite, but are we good stewards of what we have? Are we careful of not just how much we put in, but the quality of it? Do we contain our vices to moderation? Do we see to it that we don’t abuse the one body we have so that if called upon to serve, it can answer that call without hesitation, or condition? We often look at the choices we have made to this as a decision born of necessity. Out of other options, we chose this to see that wrongs are righted and that we are all allowed “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”, and very likely, rightly so. Are we, am I, living my life in a manner today to be worthy of it? This question could well sum up this entire article. The fact of the matter is that we are judged not by words, not by intentions, not by good ideas, but by actions. Do we each day look not at what we said we would do, but what we actually did, and judge our progress by that? Others surely are. These are things I reflect upon, and a developing ideology I aspire to. These are indeed high standards, and quite encompassing. I would hope I grow to be worthy of it, and that I meet you there. A Modern Minuteman |
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