God in Discussion
Last night, I went and saw the film “Flags of Our Fathers”. It was written around the battle of Iwo Jima, but its message was about heroes. Its point was that heroes are normal people who work together and do their job and thereby do something great together. I have often heard how this generation is one of individualism and that the national unity of the 1940’s could not happen again. In other words, if heroes are normal people working together, as they did during World War II, then heroes no longer exist.
But something amazing is happening in our culture. Normal people ARE coming together to do extraordinary things and it is happening online. All kinds of examples exist, from people selling their stuff without a store on Ebay to the new online encyclopedia called Wikipedia, where information is gathered (and sometimes corrected) by those who use it. I even found a plumber this week by looking through online references from people who have used plumbers in this area.
So today, we begin our Evergreen Blog. This should not be just another time-consuming internet info page. This is about normal people coming together to pursue truth about God and seek him in community. This is about talking through complicated issues and real life situations with other people who have thought about and faced the same things. So join us and make this blog a part of your search for truth. We invite your thoughts and ideas. We ask for respect for all. And we require a greater love for those who take part than for the words we write.
So dive right in. Let us hear what you think. Plan a weekly few minutes to read and respond. Let’s see where God leads us as normal people…perhaps there ARE still heroes. We just look different.
- Written by Ed Palpant
February 1st, 2007 at 7:11 pm
I always hope and pray that my girls see me as thier hero and that I can live up the the responsibility.
February 2nd, 2007 at 4:18 pm
I believe that people of today are recognizing the “power of unity” and pulling together to make extraordinary things happen to ordinary people. I also believe there is a hero in all of us and that we just have to be in the right situation to make it evident to ourselves and others.
February 3rd, 2007 at 11:23 am
What is a hero? I sometimes think we use that word too lightly. I know lots of heroes that never are recognized for their efforts and wouldn’t want to be. I think a hero is someone who sees what needs to be done and does it without thought to their own needs. My girls have always thought their dad is their hero. And indeed he is. He has managed to make things happen for them by working hard, staying up late, traveling long distances or whatever was needed with no thought to himself. As grown young women, their dad is still their hero. The Bible gives us many examples of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I’m sure they didn’t think of themselves as heroes, but we certainly do today. I’ve had many heroes in my life and hope to be more aware of heroes around me everyday!