You are here: Home / 2013 / Archives for September 2013

No Greater Love, Para Rescue, and Little Big Best Man

by

They say truth is stranger than fiction must have known something about coincidence also.
I think you’ll agree with that phrase. Well, maybe sometimes.

In a troubled word, you can still find heroes.
Heroes that make a difference and sacrifice.

Everyday heroes who out of their way to accomplish something big, often beyond themselves.
And `i’d like go share something with you that was triggered in an odd way.

It seems that sometimes while watching TV, events that get reported strangely catch our attention or we simply ignore them.
Airplane crashes seem to attract me somewhat depending on the horrific circumstances and the allure of danger.
One current tragedy involves an airline crash in San Francisco. You probably remember the details more than I can.

They news reports that the Airlines offered victims $10,000 for their pain and suffering. Hmmm…interesting by not too much. Controversial?

This act hit world news and went viral. Not too interesting but still newsworthy.

Strangely, a fiery crash of a helicopter in Okinawa had more meaning for me.
It goes like this.

On August 6th, 2013, a HH 60G Pave Hawk helicopter crashed during a training mission. These US Air Force helicopters are specially equipped for rescue missions during combat missions.

Their crews are called para-rescue or para-jumpers and they are a tough breed of combat medics.

More than EMTs, they go beyond their job description to rescue downed crewmen to troops on the ground.
They are flying trauma centres, capable of treating wounded, extracting them from the most dangerous battlefields, often at the extreme risk of losing their own lives.

One such hero was 30 year old Tech Sgt. MS , assigned to a Rescue Squadron. MS was on a training mission in Okinawa. He had rotated out of Afghanistan as an unsung hero, in my opinion. During a combat rescue mission, a photo of his heroic actions went viral on the Internet as he clung to a commando during in an operation in Kamdesh, Afghanistan.

Despite blistering gunfire from rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire, he and his team came to the rescue of others on April 13, 2012.
In a brief moment of time, he dangled between aircraft and hoist to lift and safely secure his team and the commando, forever sealing his remarkable and heroic act.
The tragedy of it all was that MS died in a training accident in Okinawa.

Chances are, you’ve read this, “No greater love than to lay one’s life for his friends.” I think MS embodied this spirit in his work.

Chances are you have your own unsung hero or perhaps you are one yourself but will not admit it.

In your selfless giving, you have received. While the example MS set is admirable or not achievable by many, there are countless heroes in our lives.
Heroes like single parents who carry two jobs to make ends meet in a tough economy.

Parents or other who care as the little two year old LS who was the best man for his parent’s wedding.
He fulfilled their request happily and the act touched many.
Shortly thereafter, his selfless act completed, he spent his last breath with his parents.

But it’s the impact and difference people like MS and a two year old boy and many others leave with us—forever sketched in our minds and psyche.

And you need not look further than God’s Word for heroes who stepped out of their comfort zones to become heroic martyrs and soldiers for Christ.

Heroes like the apostle Paul, moving stories from tragedy to triumph.
Take Stephen, stoned for his belief and dedication.

Taken collectively, these heroes have shown no greater love, whether they were aware of it or not. The greater equation are the examples they lead and the legacy they leave behind.

You may not know it but you are or can be a work-in-progress hero.
Perhaps you’ve said and done something special for someone but didn’t notice it.
An act or deed of kindness or sympathetic gesture could have been the very thing someone needed.

Pray to God that you can be a hero to someone and there’s no special training or experience required.

Just jump into a personal relationship with God, trust the results to Him, have child-like faith, and show your love to others in thoughts, words, and deeds.

I hope that you do and become that special hero to someone.

It’s only a matter of time my friend to make a difference in our world.

Michael J. Fox, Muhammad Ali, and Your Miracles

by

I’ve never had the chance to personally meet Michael J. Fox let alone Mohammed Ali.

Yet I keep running across visual reminders that I should meet them or at least remember them.

Realistically, that’s no possible. Why?
I am as famous as the faceless person you see on the mass transit commute everyday.
Or “just another fan’ at a rock concert or a sporting event.

Just an ordinary person on a small footprint in the huge sea of blogs.
i’m reminded of Mohammed Ali when think of another boxes a relative, who died too young.
Word was he never lost an amateur fight. That was years ago.
He sounded frail over the phone in our last phone call while he was the hospital on his final fight.
I imagined him to be just like Mohammed Ali when he “could sting like a bee.”

Both Michael J. Fox and Mohammed Ali are heroes of mine for eternity.
Maybe they are the same for you.
Perhaps not.

I found Michael to be a personal guy—the kind of guy you can trust immediately.
in a time when good friends are hard to find, you’ll probably agree that Michael J. Fox would be a sure bet.

He’s got energy.
He’s got humour and laughs.
He’s got amazing will power.

Mohammed Ali would make a good coach and mentor for me. His steel-like eyes would pierce my weak spirit and prop me up like a father placing his young child on a high chair.
he could have been a dancer easily. He’d dance and evade his opponent’s hits.
A rebel and contrarian in his own right, only after his pride and often loud and boisterous mouth.

In spite of it all…

He got game.
He got style.
He is unstoppable.

Yet, in spite of their successes, fame, and failures, both Michael J. Fox and Mohammed Ali battle on with their current bonded physical state.

I suppose that a simple physical move we consider a normal must be super-human obstacle to overcome for them.

They persevere and endure like many who suffer Parkinson’s Disease in loneliness and pains of horizon.

You have love ones too. Friends and relatives that are in the ranks of the not-so-fortunate, physically as you or me.

Like MyLing who I dedicate my book “Prayer Warrior’s Circle” Volume 1. She’s a young single Mom who bravely faces her cancer treatments with the bravado of the best of the best. In a race against time, I dedicate portions of the sale from my book towards her medical expenses.

Or Paul, who doesn’t know when to stop and let go of his entrepreneurial spirit. He tires from time to time, but a root in’ tooting’ crowd of Entrepreneurs on “Fire Nation Elite” keeps him pump during his cancer-stricken days.
I am moved by his spirit and dedicate “Prayer Warrior’s Circle” Volume 3. Paul’s time may be short, but his spirit is unbroken. He’s a fighter like Mohammed Ali and he’s unstoppable like Mohammed Ali.

Michael J. Fox
Mohammed Ali
MyLing and Paul

…have a common bond and trait. It’s unmistakeable: they endure and with the hope and goals like Michael Masterson writes, “our greatest goals-our most worthwhile objectives wait for us on the other side of pain, panic, doubt, and worry.`’

But they or your loved ones shouldn’t be alone in their fight. I’ll put it bluntly; they need your fierce and personal prayers today.
The other hero in this post is one we can’t get or give enough of: Prayer. The kind of spontaneous prayer that enjoins, unifies, and energizes the spirit.

If you do one thing before leaving this blog, say a prayer any prayer in your chosen faith practice for your own special intentions and be thankful, rejoice, and the leave the rest to the a higher being or universe.

Expect your miracle today.

The Prayer Warrior’s Prayer Circle: Eyes Have Not Seen…Eyes Wide Open

by

My podcast’s intro and outro script recordings were delivered on a Thursday. I listened to the voiceover of a deep resonating sound of a woman focused on announcing “Prayer Warriors Circle.”
I tucked it neatly away in my Dropbox account, but yesterday I was drawn to to listen to the content more closely.

I created this podcast with a sample script for the new “Prayer Warriors Circle” case study and decided to step out of my comfort zone.

The podcasts would be a once fit with my Ebooks.

Without much fanfare, I posted the sample podcast with my mastermind group online forum site to get some feedback.
Maybe I’m like you—you feel the pressure to perform and know that criticism is either constructive or destructive.
And the thought of it is enough to send chills up your spine.

My thoughts drifted to Catholic Elementary School and a unforgiving Sister,only to be repeated in later years by a critical College English professor.

Gobs of doubts.
Lots of worries and fears.

Here you have your pet project about to be fed to the lions and it will be eaten for breakfast,lunch, and dinner in cyberspace.
I was preparing to be a gladiator about to get his rear end kicked by an unsympathetic audience, their thumbs pointed downward—a clear gin of disapproval.
I thought about the feedback I’d get from the audience I thought could be a mixture of atheists up to an occasional Christian.

I had mixed emotions.

One, an emotional joy to read acceptance and finally getting it done.
Two, a gripping fear of being ridiculed and labeled as an outcast.
Three, an uneasy feeling of being banned from the group as “different.”

It felt like an eternity as I moved the cursor to the forum’s remarks section, a journey that felt like an eternity.
And I click with my eyes wide open

The responses were varied— ranging from the normal to special. I thought comments were fair and I took them to heart.
Now I’m reading some of the responses, figuring that I’d get some good advice on how to make it better.

A though entered my mind while reading these comments.
“Do people really need prayer today?”

I pulled back from my chair.

‘Do prayer circles and prayer warriors help people to help themselves?”

What if it did make a difference? I mean an unexpected miracle here.
A physical or mental healing there.
A feeling of comfort during pain and grief from a sudden loss.

I decided to press on and keep towards my goal—for people like some of my readers and possibly you in mind to see if I can make a difference and positive impact in someone’s life.