One Life to Give

The other day, as I sat in City Hall having lunch with people who had attended the Veteran's Day Celebration, I overheard one veteran say as he shook his head, “Yea, this country's going to h--- and the worst part is that I just don't know what to do about it.” Then with another shake of his head he looked over at me and my children and with a new light in his eyes he exclaimed, as much to me as to the other gentleman he was talking to, “Wait. I think I do know what to do!” He then pointed at my children and said, “That's where it has to start. Right there with the next generation. We have to teach them.”

This country? Yes, this country. Everyone I talk to has the same things to say. It's not a new story. In fact, I think that the story has been going around for decades. Only lately, it seems a little worse. “What do we do?” seems to be on everyone's lips. But while gums are flapping, hands are tied. Words are cheap, but deeds are nonexistent. The question I have been asking myself lately though, has not been “What do I do?”, but “Could I do it if I had to?”

To find out what needs to be done, one need only look in a good history book. There for anyone to read, are the deeds of amazing men and women who, when they saw the need, did what they had to do. In every case, there was a clear course of action, based on principle. To act, was a question of principle, verses risk. Those people in history who we most revere are the ones who weighed the risk against losing the principle and chose the risk. For instance, during the revolutionary war, Washington risked his home, future, family, property, name and life for the principles of liberty, representative government, and independence. He found the conditions under which he and his countrymen were forced to live, through the tyranny of their government, to be unbearable. The question was not so much WHAT to do as DO they do it.

For that reason I have asked myself the question. If the time came for me to risk everything for what I believe in, would I DO it? Would I value my principles above my life or would I shrink from the conflict to save my life? Upon reading the wonderful book, “The Hiding Place” by Corrie ten Boom, I was surprised to find that those ordinary people who lived and worked in a clock shop in pre-war Holland were truly extraordinary individuals. Though the risks were great and the retribution of the German government notorious, they were willing to risk everything to rescue a few people from persecution and what they believed to be certain death. Even when they knew that the police were aware of their operations they did not cease to work, even knowing that it was only a matter of time before they would be arrested themselves.

The other question that occurred to me was “What DO I believe in that I would be willing to risk my life for?” Is freedom dear enough to me that I would be willing to suffer and die for it? Is my faith strong enough to withstand persecution or violence? Would I turn my head if I saw others unjustly punished or imprisoned? Would I do everything in my power to save one person, even if I was not saved? These and other questions have come to my mind recently as I have watched people's reactions to the events that surround us. After all, history may repeat itself. So, what would I do? What would any of us do? It isn't for me to say, but I have decided to decide. If I decide beforehand what I would do then I won't be caught unawares doing something I would be ashamed of later on. In her book, those people who had betrayed others so save their own lives had a much more difficult time after it was all over. What would I do? I hope I never find out, but if I do, I hope that I won't be ashamed of my decisions when it's all over.