According to one scout, the boys were sitting near the entrance of the camp near a bluff at the time of the storm, and they saw the tornado come around the corner of the bluff. The scouts immediately activated the tornado siren at the camp. The scoutmasters there ordered all of the scouts under tables. One scout said it was over quickly and he saw a scoutmasters car tossed 150 into the air.
One scout recounted his experience on the Today Show and described trees bent completely horizontally to the ground. Once the F3 tornado, carrying 135 mph winds blew through, no tents were left standing - they were torn apart and thrown into trees. A chimney from a building had collapsed on some scouts trapping them. The scene was, no doubt, utter chaos.
Then, among these young teens, something truly remarkable happened. As those injured and trapped cried out for help, the boys who could, stood up and moved into action to try to help their friends and fellow scouts. The strongest boys worked as best they could to free those trapped. They set into action first aid training and performed CPR. They set up a triage to treat the most seriously injured first.
Imagine - 12, 13, 14 years old. Pure terror of being trapped in a major tornado - outside mind you, in the elements, with no more than a table to protect you - and then, without thinking, they got up and only thought of what needed to be done to help the people around them.
That's Courage, with a capital C. The initial shock of hearing this story turned to inspiration and amazement as I read about their actions, and I wondered what it was that moved them into action, that lead them to do the things they did, in the wake of disaster.
I think my favorite example of courage from the Bible is the story of David and Goliath. For many of us, this story is one we could paraphrase from memory pretty quickly, but I think it bears really looking at to realize how courageous David was in battling Goliath. The first thing to remember is that David was only a teenager when this happened. He was maybe the age when most of us were getting our drivers license, or getting our first part-time job. Now Goliath-according to the Bible, he was over 6 cubits tall. That puts him somewhere between 8.5 and 11 feet tall. That's freakishly, scary big, right? Now here's how the battle went down, according to The Message, 1 Samuel 17: (A foreword - The Message takes some liberties in what some of the dialogue between the two men would have been and goes into clear detail on what some of the details of the battle may have been.)
32 "Master," said David, "don't give up hope. I'm ready to go and fight this Philistine."
33 Saul answered David, "You can't go and fight this Philistine. You're too young and inexperienced—and he's been at this fighting business since before you were born."
34-37 David said, "I've been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I'd go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I'd grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I'll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine."
Saul said, "Go. And God help you!"
38-39 Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge.
David told Saul, "I can't even move with all this stuff on me. I'm not used to this." And he took it all off.
40 Then David took his shepherd's staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd's pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath.
41-42 As the Philistine paced back and forth, his shield bearer in front of him, he noticed David. He took one look down on him and sneered—a mere youngster, apple-cheeked and peach-fuzzed.
43 The Philistine ridiculed David. "Am I a dog that you come after me with a stick?" And he cursed him by his gods.
44 "Come on," said the Philistine. "I'll make roadkill of you for the buzzards. I'll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice."
45-47 David answered, "You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel's troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I'm about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there's an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn't save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he's handing you to us on a platter!"
48-49 That roused the Philistine, and he started toward David. David took off from the front line, running toward the Philistine. David reached into his pocket for a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine hard in the forehead, embedding the stone deeply. The Philistine crashed, facedown in the dirt.
50 That's how David beat the Philistine—with a sling and a stone. He hit him and killed him. No sword for David!
Pretty impressive right? A couple of images jump out at me. The first is in verses 38-39, when David is wearing all of this armor. I get this image of a thin, gangly teenager, with a bronze helmet falling down over his eyes, stumbling about under the weight of this armor. It's a humorous image. The second is in verses 48-49. As Goliath, this 11 foot giant of a warrior begins to move toward David, you'll notice that without hesitation, he too begins to move too, running toward Goliath. There's no note of hesitation or fear, because David, in that moment, was filled with courage. He never considered doing anything but facing this giant. That's an amazing image to me, and it must have been such a strange sight in that moment. I imagine what the other soldiers on the battlefield must have been thinking as they watched this small, maybe frail-looking teenager and this huge giant of a man racing toward each other in that moment.
Eleanor Roosevelt said this about courage - You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. I really like this quote. I appreciate the fact that Roosevelt recognizes that courage doesn't mean not being afraid, but rather recognizing that fear and grasping what growth you gain by facing it each and every day.
Now most of us will never face the type of fear or be required to summon the same kind of courage David or the Boy Scouts in Iowa did, we shouldn't discount that we're called upon each day to summon courage in simple, daily tasks. Maybe it's having the courage to stand up for a personal belief that doesn't jive with something going on where you work. Perhaps it's being willing to stand up to someone mistreating a co-worker, family member or friend. Maybe it's being brave enough to be honest with a loved one, no matter what the consequences may be. I'd say that these little moments of courage are what give us the ability to summon courage in the wake of crisis. As a community, its important that we support each other in the little moments of courage, because without support every day, we won't have the opportunity to build that courage we may need in moments of great fear.
It's my hope that every day at the Y, people find it easy to have the courage to do what's right and say what's right every time. We are working to sustain an environment and create a community where courage is a cornerstone of its citizens. Through our mission, we strive to help build strong people, and part of that strength is courage.
I get my strength through many places, the most important being my personal relationship with God and my ability to lean on His word in every situation. I also recognize that every persons source of courage is different, and so I hope your fountain never runs dry and that in some way the YMCA is a place to renew that source for you. That is so important to us and we'll continue to work toward making the YMCA a place that will do that for everyone.
In the aftermath of the Iowa tornado, the courage of the scouts involved was heralded as those impacted mourned the loss of those lives taken. Surely several factors led to that courage, including those young men's families, hard work, belief in scouting and the influence of their community. For some it may have been how they believed God was acting in their lives. Thomas White, an 18-year old Eagle Scout who lay on the ground through the storm with several younger scouts said "The grace of God helped us for sure."
hmmm...Grace...that's for another day.
So may you find strength - strength from God, from your community, from your family or from each other. And may your source of courage never run dry so that you can face the giants in your life and defeat them and be healthy and strong in spirit, mind and body.
If you get the chance today, stop and be still, and say a prayer for the families of those four boy scouts, and hug your kids.
I'll see you at the Y...
32 "Master," said David, "don't give up hope. I'm ready to go and fight this Philistine."
33 Saul answered David, "You can't go and fight this Philistine. You're too young and inexperienced—and he's been at this fighting business since before you were born."
34-37 David said, "I've been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I'd go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I'd grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I'll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine."
Saul said, "Go. And God help you!"
38-39 Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge.
David told Saul, "I can't even move with all this stuff on me. I'm not used to this." And he took it all off.
40 Then David took his shepherd's staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd's pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath.
41-42 As the Philistine paced back and forth, his shield bearer in front of him, he noticed David. He took one look down on him and sneered—a mere youngster, apple-cheeked and peach-fuzzed.
43 The Philistine ridiculed David. "Am I a dog that you come after me with a stick?" And he cursed him by his gods.
44 "Come on," said the Philistine. "I'll make roadkill of you for the buzzards. I'll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice."
45-47 David answered, "You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel's troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I'm about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there's an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn't save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he's handing you to us on a platter!"
48-49 That roused the Philistine, and he started toward David. David took off from the front line, running toward the Philistine. David reached into his pocket for a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine hard in the forehead, embedding the stone deeply. The Philistine crashed, facedown in the dirt.
50 That's how David beat the Philistine—with a sling and a stone. He hit him and killed him. No sword for David!
Pretty impressive right? A couple of images jump out at me. The first is in verses 38-39, when David is wearing all of this armor. I get this image of a thin, gangly teenager, with a bronze helmet falling down over his eyes, stumbling about under the weight of this armor. It's a humorous image. The second is in verses 48-49. As Goliath, this 11 foot giant of a warrior begins to move toward David, you'll notice that without hesitation, he too begins to move too, running toward Goliath. There's no note of hesitation or fear, because David, in that moment, was filled with courage. He never considered doing anything but facing this giant. That's an amazing image to me, and it must have been such a strange sight in that moment. I imagine what the other soldiers on the battlefield must have been thinking as they watched this small, maybe frail-looking teenager and this huge giant of a man racing toward each other in that moment.
Eleanor Roosevelt said this about courage - You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. I really like this quote. I appreciate the fact that Roosevelt recognizes that courage doesn't mean not being afraid, but rather recognizing that fear and grasping what growth you gain by facing it each and every day.
Now most of us will never face the type of fear or be required to summon the same kind of courage David or the Boy Scouts in Iowa did, we shouldn't discount that we're called upon each day to summon courage in simple, daily tasks. Maybe it's having the courage to stand up for a personal belief that doesn't jive with something going on where you work. Perhaps it's being willing to stand up to someone mistreating a co-worker, family member or friend. Maybe it's being brave enough to be honest with a loved one, no matter what the consequences may be. I'd say that these little moments of courage are what give us the ability to summon courage in the wake of crisis. As a community, its important that we support each other in the little moments of courage, because without support every day, we won't have the opportunity to build that courage we may need in moments of great fear.
It's my hope that every day at the Y, people find it easy to have the courage to do what's right and say what's right every time. We are working to sustain an environment and create a community where courage is a cornerstone of its citizens. Through our mission, we strive to help build strong people, and part of that strength is courage.
I get my strength through many places, the most important being my personal relationship with God and my ability to lean on His word in every situation. I also recognize that every persons source of courage is different, and so I hope your fountain never runs dry and that in some way the YMCA is a place to renew that source for you. That is so important to us and we'll continue to work toward making the YMCA a place that will do that for everyone.
In the aftermath of the Iowa tornado, the courage of the scouts involved was heralded as those impacted mourned the loss of those lives taken. Surely several factors led to that courage, including those young men's families, hard work, belief in scouting and the influence of their community. For some it may have been how they believed God was acting in their lives. Thomas White, an 18-year old Eagle Scout who lay on the ground through the storm with several younger scouts said "The grace of God helped us for sure."
hmmm...Grace...that's for another day.
So may you find strength - strength from God, from your community, from your family or from each other. And may your source of courage never run dry so that you can face the giants in your life and defeat them and be healthy and strong in spirit, mind and body.
If you get the chance today, stop and be still, and say a prayer for the families of those four boy scouts, and hug your kids.
I'll see you at the Y...
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