There's Something to be said for...

Dear Crosswalkers,

We just returned to civilization after 3 exhilarating days at a "dude ranch" of sorts in the savannah like interior of Paraguay. This included a 36 plus hour "fast" from the internet and all things electronic (except for my Kindle for book reading!).  There is definitely something to be said for taking a break from the electronic gadgets and incessant data from the internet that fills the brain with a lot of this-worldliness. Between horseback ridings, swimming with the grandkids, game playing with adults, I managed to read two books (one that I started before the trip). Again, there's something to be said for relaxed reading time to feed the mind!

The first is A First Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness, by psychiatrist Nassir Ghaemi. I am very interested in leadership principles, and this  book was a fascinating look at the link between great leaders and mental health struggles, particularly mania and depression. While the author betrays his left leaning bias, he nonetheless presents some very interesting material, mostly of leaders in the past 80 years. Here's a summary statement:

"The best crisis leaders are either mentally ill or mentally abnormal; the worst crisis leaders are mentally healthy... As we have seen throughout this book, the greatest leaders are often abnormal, even flat out mentally ill. We should accept, even celebrate, this possibility. Being normal is great in a friend and a spouse and in one's daily life; but leaders of nations and armies and businesses are faced with tasks and crises that no one else faces in normal life. For abnormal challenges, abnormal leaders are needed."

The four key elements that mentally unhealthy leaders (that is, those who suffer non debilitating bouts of depression and mania) bring to a crisis situation are these: Realism, Resilience, Empathy, and Creativity. To my mind these are excellent qualities in any leader, and the Bible clearly supports this. The Bible's way of conveying realism is to speak of the truth; of resilience is perseverance; of empathy is compassion; and of creativity is in the promise that followers of Jesus have the mind of Christ and that we are led by God's (creative) Holy Spirit. To these four qualities of leadership the author surprisingly adds a fifth: humility! He writes: "The Jewish philosopher Maimonides once said that if one can only learn to say, 'I don't know,' he will prosper." There is something to be said for cultivating these qualities in our Christian life!

Regarding the great yet troubled leaders surveyed in this book, such as Sherman, Lincoln, Churchill, Gandhi, Kennedy, and King, the author concludes:

"Their weakness is, in short, the secret of their strength."

Of course, the apostle Paul knew this two thousand years ago. Here's what he writes about God's response to his plea to take away a weakness in his life:

Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.    - 2 Cor 12:9-10 (NLT)
There's something to be said for trusting the grace of God to work best in our weaknesses, whatever they may be!  Next week I'll share about the second book I read!

Love in Jesus from Paraguay,

Pastor John