In difficult times we all look to a leader. It is the leader who will walk us out of our dark days and into the sunshine of the future. We can list the names of leader who have lead us out of darkness. In many cases these leaders state comments that we quote today to inspire us. We look to Churchill who said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Washington lead the troop through the cold winter at Valley Forge. Grant took the troop of the North to victory during the Civil War. Clara Barton with her strong will and big heart lead people to organize the Red Cross.
We look today to the President of the United States and our elected officials in Washington to lead us onto better days. What we need to do is look to ourselves to be a leader. Not one person or a body of elected officials can lead us out of the troubles we are facing. It takes each of us leading our families, our friends, our co-workers, those we worship with, the people in our neighborhood all the people around us to make the change we are asking for.
I believe we have gotten soft and look to someone else to do it. Everyone can state how busy they are, how tired they are, how they need a break from life, and how they just can't do it. It is the lack of can do effort that has us paralyzed.
We all have some form of leadership within us. A small child on the playground can lead other kids around the yard. A mother can lead a scouting troop. A big brother can lead his sibling in how to finish his homework. A husband can lead his wife during her challenge with breast cancer. A grandmother can lead the children of her neighborhood in raking leaves for those who cannot. Leaders need not be elected. They need not have a title. The best leaders are the quiet people who work to get the job done. It is the strength demonstrated by one individual that spreads to others that brings success to a task.
Too often we say it is not my responsibility. Wrong. It is my responsibility when a child falls off a bike to stop my car and see if he is okay. It is my responsibility to help a woman who can't reach the jar on the top shelf at a store. it is my responsibility to help a widow get her house ready for sale, it is my responsibility to tell my grandchild not to run down the aisle at church, and it is my responsibility to encourage all around me to lead by their actions and thoughts and not to wait to be lead.
I doubt if George Washington said to Martha, "You know I really want to leave the comforts of home and go sit in a tent in the cold, have the boots of my men wear out, and have little to eat." He did not even wear a tag on his shirt that said, "Father of our Country." Rather he was a man who was a leader because it came from within and the job had to be done. All of us can do the same for there is a Valley Forge in the lives of each of us.
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