I am enjoying the book, but it does have one problem: Since it is going through the life of Jesus chronologically, it starts out with the Christmas story - and I am about "all Christmased out" this year. I must admit I started into the week of reading with a bit of the Grinch in my withered holiday heart.
Still, as I studied the account of Jesus' birth in the New Living Translation a phrase jumped out at me: "Joseph.. was a good man.." I have probably read some version of those words a thousand times, but this week I couldn't get them out of my mind. A man with certain technical skill - but little formal education - living in an unjust society and at a tough time in history was known as a "good man." And, as we all know after reading Flannery O'Connor in high school, "A good man is hard to find."
As I shared with Mark about how that phrase impacted me, the final scene from Saving Private Ryan flooded back to my memory and - men, you can look away here if you need to - made my voice break with emotion. That's right. I started to cry.
If you saw the movie, you remember that three days after D-Day, Captain John H. Miller takes a group of seven men to find Private First Class James Francis Ryan and bring him to safety - Private Ryan's three other brothers have been killed in action and General George Marshall doesn't want Ryan's mother to receive a fourth telegram from the War Department. At the end of the movie, five of the squad members have been killed in the rescue mission and Captain Miller lies mortally wounded. Ryan is with Miller as he says his last words, "James... earn this. Earn it."
In the last scene, a now elderly Ryan and his family visit the American Cemetery and Memorial at Collevill-sur-mer in Normandy. With a great deal of emotion James Ryan tells his wife, "Tell me I have led a good life." She responds with an incredulous, "What?" He looks at her intensely and implores her, "Tell me I'm a good man."
I think that I could have resisted my actual display of emotion if Su and I had not also been reading a book by John Pollock entitled A Fistful of Heroes: Weak People Made Strong. The book has short biographies of Christians like Lord Shaftesbury, R.A. Torrey, Elizabeth Fry and many others. The chapters are just the right length for one of us to read to the other while we are washing the supper dishes.
About the same time as I was meditating on Joseph being a good man and thinking about Private Ryan's question to his wife, Su and I were reading the story of Sir Henry Havelock (1795 - 1857). Now, I must admit that even though I have stood by his statue in Trafalgar Square, I didn't know much about him. That is unfortunate, because he really was a good man.
General Havelock is one of those men who seem to have fallen out of favor in popular history because most of his military experience was earned in protecting Britain's empire in what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Still, his dedication to his troops, his bravery and his personal commitment to Christ create an incredible story. As his troops attempted to liberate Cawnpore - where many British women and children were being held as hostages by the rebels - they came under heavy gunfire. They were on the verge of defeat; most of the British troops lying on the ground looking for what cover they could find. Havelock's son, Harry - who won the Victoria Cross for bravery in the same series of battles - described his father's actions this way: "He rode round to the front of the prostrate Highlanders, calmly smiling while bullets and shells whizzed and whined within an inch of his face."
Major North, serving with Sir Henry, wrote, "With increasing darkness the shadows lengthened which added to the imposing effect of the rebel line. General Havelock, who had just had his horse shot under him, now appeared boldly riding a hack, the only man who dared raise his head - so close and thick was the fire that rained upon us. He reined up with his back to the fire, facing the line, and spoke clearly, firmly and without a trace of excitement, and still smiling: 'The longer you look at it men, the less you will like it. Rise up. The brigade will advance, left battalion leading.'"
Of course, that is NOT the scene which got to me. After all, John Wayne and even Martin Sheen have done the same thing in movies. No, what really got to me was when, a few months later after relieving the siege at Lucknow, General Havelock became ill with dysentery. The night before he died, he lay in his one remaining, faded uniform. When the thirst was bad he would call, and Harry would bring him water. As daylight came, Havelock called faintly, "Harry, Harry." When his son arrived at his bedside Havelock looked up, smiling, and said, "Harry, see how a Christian can die!" And, he did.
A good man may be hard to find... but it seems they can still be found in Christ.
By the way, in 2003 the then mayor of London suggested that Havelock's statue be removed from Trafalgar Square to be replaced with a "more relevant figure." I am not sure if he wanted to put up Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney or, even, Sir Mick Jagger. However, I have a hard time imagining any of them standing up, bullets whizzing around them and showing people how a follower of Christ can die.
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