Winder: A Picture of Servant Leadership at its Finest

As The Cypress Times' Publisher John G. Winder observes, many repeat the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. Few however, actually do a picture justice with their thousand words. Winder is the rare exception, and his commentary on the following photograph is both insightful and moving:

This was a picture of determination, perseverance, faith and the beauty of life in the midst of death. This too was a picture of the kind of leader I want for our nation as we move forward into ever turbulent times.

This is Sarah and Todd Palin who went to Birmingham, Alabama to serve along with other volunteers from Rev. Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse. This poignant photograph shows Todd and Sarah praying along with J.L. Price, a Birmingham man who some would say lost everything in the horrific tornadoes that tore apart the South last week.

J.L. Price could be seen as representative of all of America over the past several years. With gas and food prices rising, the economy shaky, and our children’s children swimming through a quicksand of debt, some might look at America and say we have lost, or are at the very least, in the rapid process of losing everything.

Yet, when I look at this photo of J.L. Price, I don’t see a man who lost everything. I see a man who has faith and therefore has everything, not the least of which is hope, courage and perseverance.

I see alongside J.L. Price a woman who could be anywhere in the world, doing anything she wished, doing anything else other than choosing to be sweating under the physical strain of manual labor in a steamy tornado ravaged town in Alabama.

I see servant leadership at its finest. I see servant leadership based on faith.

[...]

This is the kind of president I want for me, my wife and our family. This is the kind of president I want for our nation. I want someone who rolls up their sleeves and gets down in the dirt with the rest of us in order to serve our nation.

I want someone who knows who we are and will lead with the courage that is derived from faith, love and yes, hope. Real hope.

[More]

- JP