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Across the Pastor’s Desk by Ken Jensen

Admiral William McRaven relates the experience of some Navy SEALs who, while serving in Iraq in 2003, captured Saddam Hussein and held him for 30 days. They described Hussein as pompous and arrogant when they captured him. But as the days went on and he no longer had his palaces, his generals and his handmaidens, he “just became a pathetic old man.”

Compare that with the experience of Nelson Mandela who, while being incarcerated for almost 30 years, played a major role ending apartheid in South Africa. Because Mandela had great strength of character, he came out of prison as strong and maybe even stronger than when he went in.

Admiral McRaven observed that bullies like Hussein always seem to collapse when you confront them, but people of integrity like Mandela can withstand the terrible inequalities of life.

“When you take away all the trappings,” he said, “that’s when you find out the character of an individual.”

Jesus had much to say about character in the Sermon on the Mount. He concluded with this admonition: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house upon the rock, the rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” — Matthew 7:24-27 NIV

Ken Jensen is a retired ELCA pastor living in Albert Lea.