[Magdalen] From +Georgia

[Grace Cangialosi]

Oops!  He's Bishop of Dio of Georgia!  I think he was originally from Ohio; that's why I was thinking Midwest.

> On Feb 10, 2017, at 1:13 PM, cady soukup <cadyasoukup at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> http://ecrozier.georgiaepiscopal.org/
> 
> It's this week's communication.
> 
> Cady
> 
> 
>> On 2/10/17, Marion Thompson <marionwhitevale at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Our Georgia+ isn't a bishop yet, I don't think.
>> 
>> Marion, a pilgrim
>> 
>> 
>>> On 2/10/2017 1:05 PM, Ginga Wilder wrote:
>>> This is how to tell the truth.  Lynn, did Georgia send a link to the
>>> article?  I would love to share it but don't think that I will do that
>>> without also including its origin.  (DT might accuse me of putting out
>>> fake
>>> news.)
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> Ginga
>>> 
>>> On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 12:20 PM, Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> There's a scene in the 1977 film, "A Bridge Too Far," that's stayed in
>>>> my
>>>> memory. The scene is of a thousand wounded British soldiers spread out
>>>> on
>>>> the ground awaiting boats to take them to safety after an epic battle
>>>> during WWII. The camera pans over these soldiers lying there exposed and
>>>> helpless and a lone soldier stands and begins singing the hymn, "Abide
>>>> with
>>>> me." Soon all the soldiers join in forming a great choir:
>>>> Abide with me, fast falls the eventide: The darkness deepens, Lord, with
>>>> me abide:
>>>> When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O
>>>> abide
>>>> with me.
>>>> 
>>>> Eventually, they make it back across the river safely. This film is
>>>> about
>>>> an actual military battle called Operation Market Garden. In 1944,
>>>> British
>>>> Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery believed the Allies could parachute
>>>> nearly
>>>> 35,000 soldiers behind enemy lines, cut off the enemy's supply lines,
>>>> and
>>>> change the course of the war. He convinced himself that the paratroopers
>>>> would face little resistance, only youth and old men with guns, even
>>>> though
>>>> reconnaissance photos provided by his subordinates and reports from the
>>>> Dutch underground showed two German tank divisions and front line troops
>>>> present. The operation was a disaster and Allied soldiers paid the
>>>> price.
>>>> Of the 10,000 British paratroopers sent, history reports only one in
>>>> five
>>>> returned.
>>>> 
>>>> This film isn't about a military battle or even military strategy,
>>>> really.
>>>> That's merely the dramatic container for an important history lesson.
>>>> It's
>>>> rather about the hubris of leadership and the consequences when leaders
>>>> don't listen to those who may know more than they do. Montgomery failed
>>>> a
>>>> basic test of humility with respect to leadership. Believing something
>>>> doesn't make it so. And failing to listen to divergent voices,
>>>> especially
>>>> provided by the "rank and file," often leads to disastrous decisions.
>>>> 
>>>> The real hubris in this situation (and in others since then) is the
>>>> leader's willingness to actively ignore facts that don't fit what he
>>>> wants
>>>> to believe. So, we witnessed over 400,000 dead Americans and Iraqis over
>>>> non-existent weapons of mass destruction that UN Inspectors had said
>>>> clearly didn't exist. We get the near collapse of the world economy
>>>> caused
>>>> by banks' institutional hubris even though there were plenty of warning
>>>> signs everywhere about the housing bubble. And today we see refugees,
>>>> who
>>>> are vetted for 18-24 months before entering this country legally, denied
>>>> entry. None of them come from countries, like Saudi Arabia and Egypt,
>>>> that
>>>> have produced terrorists on American soil and not one refugee vetted and
>>>> brought to America has engaged in terrorist acts.
>>>> 
>>>> Once again, we're witnessing the hubris of leadership, which demands a
>>>> circular logic that goes something like this: "Because I'm the leader and
>>>> I
>>>> believe something is so, then it must be so, because I'm the leader."
>>>> The
>>>> cost of leadership hubris is rarely paid for by the leader. It's most
>>>> often
>>>> the weak and helpless or those who are bound to follow orders that pay
>>>> the
>>>> price. Wanting to believe something doesn't make it so. Willfully
>>>> ignoring
>>>> the facts isn't a leadership virtue.
>>>> 
>>>> Help of the helpless, O abide...
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> The Rt. Reverend Scott A. Benhase
>>>> Bishop of Georgia
>> 
>>