[Magdalen] From +Georgia

[Ginga Wilder]

Oh, yeah...and +Georgia has been very supportive of TECSC's plight.

Ginga

On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 7:38 PM, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:

> Being from SC and all that we have gone through I am quite familiar with
> the +SC....and the local argument about who has that moniker.
>
> Lord have mercy!!
> Ginga
>
> On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 2:32 PM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Ginga, I noticed that at the end it said it was by Scott Benhase. He's
>> the bishop of one of the midwestern dioceses.
>>
>>
>> > On Feb 10, 2017, at 1:05 PM, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com>
>> 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
>> >>
>>
>
>