For Jesus' Love 17 Leadership Traits

FOR JESUS’ LOVE 17

Leadership Traits

By

Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (November 12, 2017)

“So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” (St. John 21:15-17, King James Version [Christ’s charge to Peter]}

Greetings in the Holy Name of Jesus,

My sisters and brothers, there comes a time---I wish I could promise you---I did not promise you a rose garden---life without suffering is not possible---the life we live is our own---for every action there is an adverse reaction…all the beginnings of explaining what happens in life when the uncertainty of human decision making and human errors throw us into the abyss of a darkness we have never known before this time but then of course, there was and still remains for all to question---the darkness of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. I do not wish that you should suffer so, for the greatest cost of suffering so, was paid for---pressed down, lock, stock, and barrel---by none other than Jesus. I felt the pains of many pains in the lost of my loved ones when death chased them down and took each one of them away from me. I felt that pain of detachment, loneliness, and despair---seemingly all at once, when my heart opened up threatening to go into an attack. I had to release it all to Jesus and as I reconciled with God, the release was afforded to me, to just let go and let God. He is the avenger of us all---He who sets the crooked straight, so that the blind can see and the lame can walk, in the light of the day and in the grace of light by night. My God is the avenger---our God Almighty, the Great God of War.

Interestingly enough, David and Bathsheba’s story involved deception in the death of David’s soldier Uriah---his right hand man---facing death on the battlefield. David’s love for Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba proved to be the undoing of Uriah’s marriage and life, for King David sent a message with Uriah to give to the soldier-in-charge---a message that ordered Uriah’s eminent death on the battlefield. There are times when you know that

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the events as spelled out and told to you were not the truth of what happened on the battlefield that caused death. For in the David and Bathsheba’ story David ordered the death of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. Uriah loved David and fought hard and strong for King David on the battlefield yet David ordered his death for David laid with his wife, Bathsheba while he was in battle and made her pregnant. What a web of deception was weaved when David thought to deceive---because he could not get Uriah to go lay with his wife so he could say the child his wife carried was Uriah’s child [Uriah stayed at the King’s palace with King David saying he could not go to his wife during a time of war, II Samuel 11th chapter]?

And as art imitates life, we watched the movie tale of a soldier’s story when the sergeant-in-charge a black man over the infamous black troops who at that time had not received orders to fight yet just meandered at a military base cleaning and doing tasks unbecoming, for in gist they said anything the white soldiers do not want to do, colored soldiers will do for you, so the black soldiers were not proud of their daily routines outside of battle so much so the low-morale caused the sergeant-in-charge to fight one of his black soldiers, in front of everyone, for all the troop to see and ultimately caused the same soldier abandoning late night guard duty to kill his sergeant later in the story when he happened upon his drunken sergeant, lying alone on a dark road late at night. A black captain, who most of the soldiers black and white---had never seen a black captain before was sent to investigate what happened to the black sergeant-in-charge of probably the only black troop, at that time. It was both poignantly ironic and just plain sad for the black captain to find out the soldier who killed the sergeant was thought of highly by the sergeant because he fought him back, which led the now dead sergeant to say he planned to promote him. The deception around the sergeant-in-charge over the black troop led folks at the military base to believe wholeheartedly that the white soldiers those who were Klu Klux Klansmen did the dastardly deed that killed the sergeant.