"Chris, what do YOU think about the war?"

This was a question I was asked this week as I sat down with an old friend. Her question was genuine. I don't think she was looking for someone to make up her mind for her. She was looking for perspective. Here is what I said...and then some.

I personally don't like war. War is what happens when other peaceful options are exhausted or ignored. Wars cost lives. People put it all on the line and some die, many are scarred, and some never get over it. I look forward to the day when wars are "no more;" When men and women like my brother, my dad, and many of my friends don't have to leave their families and risk everything to keep people like me safe.

That being said...I believe we have an OBLIGATION as a nation to finish what we started. It is irresponsible to enter a country, dismantle a government (however tyranical), and then leave before restabilizing a government. Leaving a leadership vacuum invites a Darwinian (survival of the fittest) outcome to the ascension of power.

Some would say that we are only here because we chose to insert ourselves into a situation that did not involve us. Two comments:

First, I am not the President nor do I want to be him. I can only begin to fathom the gravity of the situation and the enormity of the weight of responsibility he must yield in making decisions. I make decisions everyday. I supervise employees and lead a volunteer organization of a few hundred people. The weight of those decisions are sometimes overpowering and all the time taxing. I find myself having to decide when there is uncertainty. (This is the nature of leadership...since there is nothing to decide when everything is certain.) Sometimes I get it wrong. Sometimes I choose the hard way. I have come to the point in my life that I try to make the best decisions I can based on the information I have. I solicit as much insight as I can and seek to carry out the decisions with all of my might.

Often times, there are people who are critical of my decisions. They have the benefit of hindsight (and the handicap of limited insight.) In other words, they don't know what I knew when called upon to decide...or they have the benefit of looking back on the results when determining if the decision was correct. It is the equivalent of deciding with a crystal ball.
Critics are a dime-a-dozen. Some have valuable critiques...but some just have opinions. When not critiquing, they spend recreational time explaining to their friends how they would have made a better coaching or playing decision on the football field. Truthfully, my perspective is always a little different too...when offered from the armchair rather than the sideline. God bless the President and his choice to lead. Right or wrong, he makes decisions everyday. That is what leaders do. The true character of the leader is displayed when he has to follow through on the decision...especially when others are throwing tomatoes.

Second, there is an inherent responsibility to get involved in situations where a higher ideal is at stake. We call a person courageous when he (or she) intervenes in the commission of a robbery to save a victim and/or apprehend a violator. We expect that getting involved is the normal response when we have the ability to help someone in need. We display selfishness when we say that we won't help another so we can better comfort ourselves. There is great responsibility in being the world's only superpower. "To whom much is given, much is required." Standing idly by while millions of people suffer or while an imminent threat against our allies builds, is not an acceptable response for a nation of character.

Ultimately, I choose to pray for the President and those who are fighting the war. I have rejected the desire to assert that my opinions are greater than really "smart people" who have more knowledge at hand than I. I choose to think for myself on the issue, rather than accept the "spin" of a broadcaster or organization/political party which has something to gain through sensationalization. I choose to "put my back into the effort" to bring success to the leader's approach...rather than offer idle criticism and archair observations while claiming to support the people involved. In other words, if the leader's approach fails...it won't be because I chose not to help it succeed.

Just my reflections. Your perspective is welcome as well.

Grace,