A Lesson From Eastwood

Not sure why but sometimes in my life I go through these periods where I need to get a "fix" on certain things. One day it might be Mexican food. Other times it might be a certain genre of music or even a style of clothes. These "fixes" even spill over into what I watch on TV. Now that one of my favorite TV shows LOST is now over, I have found myself scrambling to fill that weekly void. I have been looking at new shows but they all disappoint and I end up watching either reruns or a movie I have seen 632 times that is on TNT.

While flipping through the channels looking for something good that I could fall asleep in front of, man am I getting old, I came across one of my all time favorite Westerns. Now it doesn't have the gunfights like Open Range does with Kevin Costner. It didn't have all the star power that Unforgiven had but it did have Clint Eastwood.

Pale Rider is a movie about an unknown drifter who defends a man and ultimately a small town from an outside businessman who roughs people up and trys to get them to leave so that he can claim the mineral rights to the towns land. Unknowing to the town was that this new drifter (Eastwood) is also a Preacher.

What is interesting is that this preacher first came to their need because he realized that help was needed. Once he made it into town and word spread on how he whooped up on some of the bad guys, some of the people were ready to run this stranger off because they did not want someone of his kind there in their town. Then it all changed. Once they realized that this new drifter was a man of the cloth, a preacher, they wanted him to stay. As the story goes on he stays and fights off the outsiders, thus protecting this small town and their lives as they knew it.

As I watched that movie for the 29th time, I thought about isn't that what I am suppose to do? Isn't it my job to help fight off the bad and protect the people? I remember a line from the movie The Patriot with Mel Gibson when they are recruiting men from the town to join the war. As the plea is made there in the small church, the preacher to the amazement of his congregation joins the men to go fight. When asked, he simply says "a shepherd must tend to his flock, and at times fight off the wolves". As I thought about it even more, isn't that what all of us as Christians are suppose to do? People in this world, where you work, where you go to school, in your neighborhood are looking for someone to ride up into their life and help them in a time of need. It is through our service, our help where they will indeed see that we are much more than just a stranger or drifter showing up at just the right time. What they will then see is that we are people of God, Christ followers who first and foremost have a desire to help people, in whatever condition they are in. Who knows maybe after they realize who you are they might even want to keep you around for the next time a need arises. Luke 19:10 says "That the son of man has come to seek and to save those which were lost". The lost are those that are in desperate need of a Savior and they are waiting for both you and I to help them.

See You @ The River...John