I was having a recent chat over a libation, when I heard a sad story. It was a story of an aging woman preparing for surgery for a common malady that often affects women.
She was a good woman, and for many years worked diligently for the government, but now her medical crisis and current politics to reduce the federal work force, have put her life and job in jeopardy.
What would she do, if her job was abolished along with her medical insurance for necessary surgery and cancer treatments? She was living alone.
A health dilemma and financial ruin would knock on her door.
When I think of people who suffer, I ponder those shepherds who strive to protect their flock from wolves.
In high school and throughout my life, I have embraced those leaders who cared about people.
Who are your heroes?
Mahatma Ghandhi and Franklin Roosevelt are two of mine.
Ghandhi was a small man in stature who became the leader of India in 1924, a country that would grow to 361 million by 1951. He was a key figure in securing India’s independence from British rule through non-violence protests.
He once famously ‘fasted’ for 21 days on small qualities of water and nourishment to protest the treatment of his people by British rule in regard to ‘caste’ discrimination and to promote Hindu-Muslim unity.
Ghandhi believed that ‘fasting’ could be used to ‘promote political change through moral persuasion.’ He wanted to ‘appeal to the conscience of the British government and Indian people in searching for ways to make conditions better.
He enjoyed reading the “Sermon on the Mount “which influenced his life.
Ghandhi, a tiny man in stature, was a giant among world leaders. A favorite motto of his was ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’; He also believed, ‘An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.’
But my favorite line from this famous leader suggests that one should ~ ‘Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.’
As the leader of India, Ghandhi secured his country’s independence from Britain on Aug. 15, 1947. He was assassinated on January 30, 1948, by a Hindu nationalist who disagreed with his political ideology.
Franklin Roosevelt was another fine leader from history who was the only American President to be elected to four terms.
As a wealthy politician who suffered from polio, he became humbled as America’s leader. Few Presidents faced the serious problems of Roosevelt. He served from March 4, 1933 to April 12, 1945.
The country experienced one of the greatest weather predicaments in history with the “dust bowl” of the early 1930’s. The devastation of lives and farms affected the whole of American society; it was one of the ‘most significant environmental disasters in American history.
It was a most difficult time for Roosevelt’s American “flock” during his political tenure.
And if the “dust bowl” wasn’t enough tragedy, can you imagine the Great Depression of the 1930s when banks were locked and poverty soon arrived at the doorsteps of most Americans.
A desperate time for those ‘sheep in the fields’: jobs were mighty scarce; the future, darkly bleak. What could Roosevelt possibly say to the worried Americans?
After winning the election of 1932, Roosevelt offered this message to his flock ~ ‘The ‘Only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’
Roosevelt had arrived to take America out of its deepest economic hole of the century. And it was soon obvious too, after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harber in December, 1941, this man weakened by Polio would be fighting a world war.
Roosevelt would play a crucial role in the world’s victory over Germany and Japan.
Good Shepherds are hard to come by these days; just ask the lonely woman with the medical malady and potential loss of her job.
Ghandhi and Roosevelt were two caring Shepherds who looked after their flocks and remembered;
“Whatever you do for the least among us, you do for me” …….
Let’s remember those lessons of a Good Shepherd.
