Winston Churchill is famous for quite a few things. Perhaps one of the least of these is the quotation to the effect of: It takes three hours to write a ten-minute speech, but it only takes ten minutes to write a three-hour speech.
I was pondering MacArthur’s farewell address to the Corps of Cadets. An old (82+) Air Force Colonel quoted from it in his address to the graduating Cadets from one of our schools last month. He didn’t know that as soon as he referenced MacArthur, I was able to cite the upcoming quotation in my mind before he even said it.
Duty. Honor. Country. Those three hallowed words…
He didn’t know that we were required to memorize it. But he, as an Air Force Officer saw the value in those words enough that he was willing to cross the boundaries of the branches, and recite the words of an Army Officer.
This Air Force Officer was impressive of his own right. He came in a wheelchair to deliver the keynote address to the Commissioning Cadets. Rather than deliver the words from his wheelchair, he chose to stand behind the podium, which proved to be an arduous task for him. Gradually, but fairly quickly, he lost his breath and could barely speak. Eventually, as he stood behind the podium, he collapsed. Soldiers and Cadets and even a doctor in the audience ran to his aid. He refused aid, once he was able.
We made ad hoc plans to deliver his words on his behalf. He refused that as well. He got up, accepted his wheelchair, and continued the speech himself.
What he did was to show to the Cadets the meaning of perseverance, honor, and respect. He persevered in his intent to honor the Cadets, and offered them respect. In so doing, he magnified the respect that he already had.
Perhaps these Cadets listened a little more closely to his words than they otherwise would have. We cannot know that. We can only hope.
That is an important part of the story, but not the story I set out to tell. Not what I set out to write.
Poets quote poets at times, in the creation of their own poetry. From Winston Churchill to MacArthur to this Air Force Colonel, I have been thinking about the essence of inspiration.
Action has a lot to do with it. Taking risks. Perseverance. Standing up when the entire world would not judge you for laying down. That is part of it. That might even be the foundation of it.
But to rise to the level of inspiration, it seems to take more than that. It takes a framing of the thoughts and ideas that caused you to stand. Those thoughts need to be well articulated. It takes a profundity draped in poetry in support of action.
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If the graduating cadets didn’t learn a lesson of perseverance from that Air Force Colonel, they were asleep. When you witness raw determination, it is a life long lesson that few forget.
I know I would have been in awe of his character and conviction.
Amen.