A Proper Introduction

I suppose it is fair to begin by first introducing myself.

Although I believe this has already been achieved by the short enumerated list I provided in the section of this blog page under the heading, 'About Me,' again, to be fair, these same titles can be applied to countless others. Therefore, one cannot be completely clear on their exact meaning, or at least their meaning from my perspective.

Let us diverge for a brief moment from my opening point and from my self-directed task—which  is to provide a proper introduction—by first highlighting a few other points. Like most things that I am responsible for, I have given this blogging venture considerable thought. Christina, my wife, will tell you that I have labored for some time over whether to keep a blog. Frankly put, I do not have the time in a day to update this site as often as I imagine a blog should be updated, and, in time, I fear I may lead certain followers on a journey that they would eventually abandon soon after the inaugural step. That is a disclaimer for all you ardent internet users out there. In fact, this first blog entry will serve, for all intents and purposes, as one big disclaimer, the first and only one of its kind. Do not expect this sort of forced self-conscious explaining to be part of every entry; it is too distracting. This entry will be very different from all the other blog entries that will follow, and only because I think it is fair that I provide to you, the reader, a proper self-critique of my style.

I intend on writing as if you and I are speaking to one another from across a dinner table or beside a crackling fireplace on a brisk wintry evening. This blog site will be a fireside chat, to borrow a phrase coined and made famous in FDR's day. Imagine ice crystals forming on the window panes; there is no where else you'd rather be than inside with friends. Imagine the smell of charred fire wood saturating the air, its crispness invading your nostrils. Hear the soft crackle of a glowing fire, which warms your face, its sound tickling your ears. And, if it suits you, imagine the smooth taste of a hot chocolate or the sharp jolt of black coffee stinging the tip of your tongue as it chases the evening chill back out into the night. This is how friends spend their time together. We will not always agree, but we will not be disagreeable for its namesake. This also means I will not lecture and I will not always be "right." For who lectures in common talk? And who, in real meaningful terms, is always right, all of the time? To be clear, there are Truths, and then there are truths. The little 't' truths are statements like, "It is raining." At the moment this statement is made, it very well could be raining, which makes the statement true. However, moments later, it may no longer be raining, and therefore, the very same statement, though true earlier, is by that point in time, false. The truth of the statement, "It is raining," is dependent on conditions. There is no point in us getting worked up over beliefs that bear as little inherent truth as if one were to say "It is raining outside." Where we run the risk of diverging will be on those absolute moral Truth statements of belief that serve to validate all other matters of relevance. Our time together will mean that I recognize there will be obvious and sufficient rebuttals to some of the points I will make; I will do my best to account for these rebuttals. Stylistically, I look forward to challenging myself to represent counterpoints in a sufficient and entertaining manner. I hope you enjoy my efforts.

My blog is not a political statement. To be sure, I will speak on subjects that are highly politicized for obvious reasons. Many of the subjects I will raise can boil one's blood as quickly as it will kindle another's passion to take up a banner, march in beat to a drum, and charge in support of a cause as if a Broadway actor on set of Les Misérables during the musical score, "Do you Hear the People Sing?" Neither outcome will be my goal, but should my words move one into action, so be it. This also means—and  you probably guessed by now—that you will not like everything I will write all of the time. I cannot control what one does with the words I use, except to encourage the same to be responsible in representing my voice.

So now, back to my earlier remark regarding a proper introduction. I listed a number of titles About Me to which I associate, beginning with Husband. Seeing how my task was to 'describe' myself, I rather chose to 'identify' with each in such a way as to suggest one could substitute each noun for my name, thereby appropriately capitalizing each. Listing Husband helps to illustrate that I understand what it is to sacrifice. After all, isn't marriage, among many things, chiefly about sacrifice. Getting married is the least selfish thing one can do in life, and yet, the crux of one, among many, crises with which society grapples—that of our staggering divorce rates—points back to the idea that marriage is handled merely as a social contract. (It is fair to assume, since I raised this point, that I see marriage as being something more, as meaning something more, than merely that of a social contract, though others will disagree. In stepping outside my presentation, I'd like to ask, do you see now how this will work? I digress...).  My agreement to marry Christina means that I am now ordered in service of something larger than myself. Though I have needs and wants and desires, like most others, being in a marriage means that my chief aim is to nourish the spirit of our union, and thereby necessarily subordinating those needs, wants, and desires to another thing bigger than only I. This is not a point to languish, for in time, the two paths will converge. I will write more about this and other ideas in following blogs. It is also important to keep in mind that by sitting here typing while Christina balances her busy life as mother, part-time employee, Military Family Readiness Group Leader, and devoted home keeper and wife,  I am already on borrowed time. In part, my devotion to her springs from the knowledge that she allows me to keep this 'blog,' with the understanding that when the time comes, I will forgo an entry to stave off the wrath of her frustration.

I listed Father next, which, I should have pointed out earlier, does not necessarily go in order of precedence. Becoming a father was one of the most important things that has ever happened to me. I will write many of my posts in the same manner I hope to some day speak to my children. Many of the subjects I choose to discuss on this blog will likely have originated from an encounter with one of my children. I will try very hard to be fair-minded and balanced as I write. I will try my best to represent Truths as best I can because I hope to someday use my same arguments to instruct my children. I hope you do not mind that I practice with you. More importantly, I will strive to be consistent. One of the earliest lessons being a father has taught me is to remember the importance of consistency. One must mean what he or she says and stand firm on that word. Yet, to be firm is not to be stubborn. Being firm means being evenhanded and gentle, particularly when one’s decision disfavors popular sentiment. In this regard, we must be clear, precise, and exact in communication, and above all else, simple. My writing at times will become painfully simple, yet, so be it. For me, this lesson carries over into a very basic, fundamental principle of leadership; that is to lead by example. Therefore, I will strive to be consistent, to be fair, and to stay honest.

As I try to do with my children, my writing will be careful to always guide one onto (or to remain on) a path of evident virtues that will bring to bear civility and decency—hence my point regarding 'setting the example' and 'consistency'; after all, what is more powerful than one's words will always be how the same one lives his or her life. I will write at times as if I am speaking to my children, since they have taught me that not only do children exude an undeniable innocence and honesty through their worldview (and not to be mistaken with naiveté), but they can very readily detect falsehood, hypocrisy, and inconsistency. 

Next in order, and I will not spend any more time on each than I must, I list Son, Brother, and Friend, because, while I am each and take each seriously, I also wish to represent each in my relation to you, the reader, in spite of our differences, if they exist. I will write in this regard as well. As for Soldier, this is one of my most important titles and the role in which I will derive many of my topics. It is tempting as a leader, certainly as a commander, to bring down the gavel using one hand, but how often does one wait, if to at all, extend the other hand to the same persons found in error before the full weight of the gavel rests on the sounding block? Judgment is easy. Mercy is difficult. To balance the two in an evenhanded manner is near impossible. But it is a necessary function as a leader to strive always in finding that right balance, impossible though it may seem. In 1513, the Italian diplomat, historian and political theorist, Niccolò Machiavelli, in his political treatise, The Prince, wrote "the gap between how people actually behave and how they ought to behave is so great that anyone who ignores everyday reality in order to live up to an ideal will soon discover he has taught himself how to destroy himself, not how to preserve himself. For anyone who wants to act the part of a good man in all circumstances will bring about his own ruin, for those he has to deal with will not be all good." Fire, as I believe Machiavelli would say, must be fought with fire. This is one common baseline for leadership prevalent in my profession. However, I find this to be 'flat' thinking in a 'round' world. It ignores all the signs that point to there being more to life than preservation of power or accumulation of wealth, fame, and status, (And, alas, there is!—one of my pre-suppositional tenets, I know).

 I refer to a harsh duality to life, one of many paradoxes. We must often deal in absolute terms of a brutal realism while appealing to an essential idealism that collectively, individuals among the human race have a responsibility to achieve the best in themselves. This, I believe, is pragmatism, and the realm from where many of my arguments will derive. This very idea, like my earlier point on childhood simplicity, is not to assume naiveté, though its weakness is inherent against the ugly brutality of hate, greed, and envy. I never said any of this would be easy to accept. It is, nonetheless, prudent when deliberating a crisis to ensure both distance and time between a problem and its many sensible solutions, lest we act hastily to our own folly. Ensuring physical and/or emotional distance helps to remove self from the luring passion of either cause to achieve a necessary degree of objectivity. Ensuring a time elapse will lend to clarity and help bring perspective to temper the dizzying angst onset by the urgency of 'now.' In becoming a leader, we must be patient and fair in judgment, prudent in our responsibilities to one another, and, with time, learn  to forgive others' wrongdoing. In this same spirit, we must be patient with others as we seek their forgiveness—certainly, we are not always abstained of wrongdoing—for trust is not an easily earned virtue. There is a faith one must keep in people that is all too often tested, while at the same time an essential trust in the integrity of any system that all too often ignores that we deal with real lives.

If, as leaders, we do  not exhaust every effort early enough in our relation with those we lead to establish meaningful 'touch-points' before hastily reaching judgment, should such a vile time ever arrive, then we have not only failed to consider the decency every human being deserves, in spite of their actions, but we have also degraded the integrity of a Just system that is predicated on a necessity that we act responsibly within its confines. We will speak more about this in later posts.

Finally, I describe myself as being a Child of God. That is right—to understand my worldview and writing, you must understand my whole argument is predicated on the knowledge that God exists. I have a proof for this that is sufficient in logical terms, which I will provide at a later date, and others will disagree with my points, points for which I readily account. But it is suffice to say in this first introduction that at certain times, I would like to tackle the subject of God—to be exact, the understanding of what patrons of monotheistic religions mean by ‘God’—a vexing proposition to say the least. This will hardly be a popular topic to discuss in so politically acute a culture as ours. This topic, one that bears such grave misgivings, is nonetheless a necessary subject for any reasonable person to ponder upon, if only but for a moment longer than the neatly packaged Sunday morning rituals of song and praise and short-lived worship and fellowship.

What does one mean by ‘God’?

Although this introduction naturally implies that I can and will provide answers, I will do very little to satisfy a curious mind or quell any divisive debates; for in actuality, the easy answer to the question of ‘God’ is simply this: God is a mystery. He is the incomprehensible one. The mystery—a word that derives from the Greek "Muein," translated literally as, "to shut the mouth”— of God’s nature is so incomprehensible that any attempt to sufficiently describe Him falls utterly and desperately short of words, leaving one to simply fall silent. Yet, given the abundance of insight and perspective into God’s nature provided throughout the ages in both sacred and historical texts, one can at least form, through reasonable means, a general understanding of His nature, if not in satisfying terms, at least in reassuring ones. We will have this and other discussions. 

So there you have it. I hope this has been a proper introduction, and if you follow, please be sure to comment as you wish. I look forward to this venture; now if only I can find a comfortable chair from which to write...