The Making of a Warrior

Jim Chosa, a Crow Indian by marriage, has written a chronology on how the Crow Tribe grooms male children to become warriors. Here is what I remember.

The story begins with a 5 year old boy sleeping with his parents in a tent one cold, snowy morning. The boy awakes as someone grabs his ankle and begins to drag him through the snow towards the river. The boy next feels his body catapulting through the air, landing in the river and the beginning of his battle for survival!

Training their young boys to be warriors meant survival for a Crow family and their tribe. The family hired the best warrior they could find as a mentor for their son. The boy was taught skills for survival, for battle and for living a humble, others-centered life.

Around the age of 13, he was sent into the wilderness with no food, no clothes and no weapons on his "quest." Instructed to lay face down in a clearing, he could not move until he received his "vision" from the Great Spirit. Even when approached by a bear or mountain lion, he was forbidden to move but, instead, to trust a power higher than himself. Only after successfully completing this experience could the young warrior begin to pursue his calling.

When he was ready, he was permitted to accompany his mentor into battle. Only when he had proven his abilities, and when he had learned to delight in his purpose, was he permitted to enter the battle alone.

When he was victorious in his first hand-to-hand conflict, a coup they called it, he was awarded a feather for his head band. Surrounded by family and friends, he learned how to share his victory humbly and to appreciate those that "stayed with the stuff!"

The Crow don't train warriors any more and some of their men will tell you they've lost their purpose. Each of us has been created for a unique purpose. Like the Crow warrior, our life experiences have been our training. I'll be 68 soon and finally began to realize my life purpose! I'm delighting in it! It's never too late.

How about you? Have you found your purpose? There is a warrior inside of you!

How Do You "Know?"

In my last blog, I wrote about our propensity to be right, even at the cost of lying and deceiving others. Today we'll drill a little deeper; we'll focus on why some of us can't help ourselves!

The key can be found in the word "perceive." The American Dictionary of the English Language (Webster's 1828 Edition) offers these definitions: "To know; to understand; to observe" and "To have knowledge or receive impressions of external objects through the medium or instrumentality of the senses or bodily organs." The underlying question is how do we "know" something?

Scientific studies have shown our senses filter through our brains. Smells, tastes, sounds often trigger memories of past events in our lives. Our brains store information that, when remembered, can direct the actions of our bodies as well as our emotions. Interestingly, The Heart Math Institute has conducted scientific studies that show our hearts have certain memory capabilities that may be comparable to our brains! In fact, some of their studies have shown the heart is the primary organ controlling our actions and reactions. If we can accept this research, we realize we can "know" in our minds and "know" in our hearts.

So, to the root of the problem. We can easily access our minds for the information stored in our brains. Only a small percentage of mankind can perceive what is in their hearts. The result is we rely mostly on the information stored in our minds to conduct our lives. This information is "what we believe." Unfortunately, we think what we believe in our minds is who we are and it becomes our identity. As human beings, we will defend our identity (our belief systems) at any cost, even lying and deceiving others. When we "have made our minds up" we are no longer open to hearing new information and to sensing our heart reactions.

When we operate out of only what we know in our minds, we are simply "carnal man." Webster defines carnal as being in the natural state, unregenerate, lecherous, lustful and given to sensual indulgence. What we think is right in our minds may not be! The only truth is what we can find in our hearts where we can hear the still, small voice of God. In an old New Jerusalem Translation of the Bible, Proverbs 3:5-8 states it this way: "Trust wholeheartedly in Yahweh, put no faith in your own perception; in every course you take, have him in mind: he will see that your paths are smooth."

You Can Get Free From Fear!

My wife and I have two Labrador Retrievers, Sarah and Isaac. Isaac is the first-born son of Sarah and he's my dog. In fact, he worships me! From the time he was a pup (he's 12 now) he was 6 inches from my heels. When I'd come from a trip, he'd whine and whimper with a smile on his face because he was so glad to see me.

When he was younger, Isaac had some bad habits; he liked to eat my wife's socks, not mine just hers. I'd swat him with a newspaper when he did this but he loved me anyway. One day he found a printer ink cartridge under my desk and you can guess the rest. Ink all over the beige carpet! In my anger, I swatted him with the newspaper several times, and harder than usual as I scolded him. Out of fear, he bared his teeth and snarled at me for the first time. At that moment, he didn't worship me!

We humans are not that much different. Fear causes us to do crazy things, the least of which is to push us into the fight or flight mode. At those times, we can lose touch with reality. Like Isaac, sometimes we respond out of instinct. The difference is that you and I respond out of what is in our hearts.

Kenny Huffman beat up on me when I was in the third grade and I couldn't fight back. For most of my life after that, when I was threatened by someone or something I bared my teeth and snarled. I was quick to throw the first punch so to speak, verbal not physical. It took me 45 years to learn I couldn't break free of the fear in my heart on my own.

I don't know what is in your heart this Christmas season that may be causing you to fear. The Bible says the root of all fear is the fear of death. If you haven't already, this Christmas season make sure you accept God's free gift, Jesus Christ. When you ask him into your heart, His Holy Spirit will begin to heal and remove the root of fear, eternal death. Snarl no more! Enjoy His peace! (John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

The Land of the Free

If I'm not mistaken, the right to free speech was given to U.S. citizens in the constitution. This includes the right to choose when to speak, what to say and how to say it. Long before the constitution, God created mankind with a free will. Free will gives us a choice in everything we do and say.

Because we have a free will and the right to free speech, we can choose to lie or tell the truth. We can speak softly or yell loudly. We can behave with the highest integrity or with the lowest morals. We can tell others to do as we say and do the opposite ourselves. We can be honest or dishonest. Whatever we consider or do in life, the choice is ours.

To make the right choice, there must be a standard to guide us. Your beliefs may not be the same as mine so your choices will likely be different than mine unless we both use the same standard. When we are no longer free to choose a standard, we are no longer free. When we are told what we must believe or do by a government, by an employer or by a church, erosion of freedom has begun.

You may be aware that our government has asked that we inform officials of individuals that are critical of government policies and proposed legislation, particularly government-run health care. You probably also have heard certain politicians say that it is un-American to speak publicly against politicians at town hall meetings. We are witnessing the heart motives of a government administration that has created its own standards which they are attempting to force on you and me. Not only are we facing severe limitations of our freedoms by the current administration, proposed health care and other legislation is intended by its proponents to be the only standard we can choose. Standards for ethics, integrity and behavior will be set by bureaucrats. The land of the free will be no longer! Speak now or forever hold your peace!

IS IT OK TO BE LESS THAN 100% ETHICAL?

The answer to this question probably depends on who you ask, when. Many Americans felt the moral indescretions of some past presidents didn't affect their ability to govern the U.S. A majority of the U.S. Congress apparently feels it is permissable to make certain obvious errors on personal tax returns since they've confirmed appointments to public office that have not filed past returns correctly. Stockholders of some large companies that have incurred significant losses must feel that huge bonuses to management personnel are acceptable since these individuals are allowed to remain in office. Some church members seem to tolerate sexual and other indescretions in their leaders since some are still leading congregations. Certain talk show hosts and motivational leaders adopt their own doctrines and philosophies which are supported by large numbers of followers even though there is no authoritative support for their opinion.

So... is it really OK to be less than 100% ethcial? Is it appropriate to justify our innappropriate behavior because others do it? Is it right to blame others for causing our indescretions? Is it right to set up our own standards of behavior as a doctrine which we expect or encourage others to live by? Are some indescretions, mistakes, or illegal behaviors unimportant?

If you ask this author, my answer to all these questions is absolutely not! If we are to conduct our lives with high integrity, we must have some common standard for behavior. Most people believe their standards are the right ones. This wouldn't be a problem if everyone believed as we do. The problems arise when we differ with others. Criminals' standards are different from most law-abiding citizens, for example. For most of us, it's not acceptable to steal, rape, molest, or murder. For some criminals, it is acceptable. Situational or behaviorial ethics of man must have a common foundation to provide accountability for inappropriate behaviors.

Only God's standards in the Holy Bible can provide a common standard for accountability. Any other standard is relavent to a lesser authority. Before I'm accused of being a self-righteous Bible thumper, let me be the first to say I am not perfect. I make mistakes, even commit sin as defined by the Holy Bible. My heart desire is to have high integrity in all areas of my life and I make a conscious effort to live that way. When I become aware of my failures, I attempt to take responsibility for my part, make amends with others and, when necessary, make restitution. Most of all, I ask my God for forgiveness for my actions or words and for His help to live according to His Way in the future.

What do you think? Should we accept or tolerate inappropriate behaviors of politicians, corporate management and church leaders? Can we justify acting in ways that seem right only in our eyes? Is it OK to be a little unethical because "everyone does it?" Post your comment!