Some stories I can’t shake. Like these three, from the morning of 9/11, and the world is falling apart:
Butch Huntley, a Maine roofer, watched the towers fall on television, hopped on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and drove over 500 miles from Lubec, Maine, straight to New York City to help.
Erick Robertson drove for 48 hours straight to reach Ground Zero with his rescue dog to help out.
Jason Thomas and Dave Karnes, former U.S. Marines, drove to the site and played a crucial role in finding and rescuing trapped police officers.
There are more. Here’s what awes me. No one asked them to do anything.
They just showed up.
These men are heroes.
If we list off the men we know on one hand, I guarantee some of them feel like they can’t breathe, they can’t get out from under the crush and pressure of their lives.
So I decided to add a daily notification to my phone.
Every night at 9 p.m. my phone pings. It’s a little Google reminder with a list of names on it. I stop, and I pray for those guys.
That’s the first line of the Heroic Pledge. Pray daily, and lift up three men by name.
Thirty seconds. “Lord Jesus, I offer to you these men and their families. Strengthen them, heal them, help them as they need. Lord, not as I will, but as you will… [list the names.]”
Most days I remember. Some days I forget. It’s ok. We keep going.
You see, I didn’t get into it only for them.
That’s why this Pledge is a particularly heroic habit.
It’s not a 30 day challenge. It’s a habit. It’s a heroic habit. No matter what. I’ve pledged to have their back and pray for them.
Think about the monks. A Carthusian gets up in the middle of the night and prays for a world that will never know his name, never thank him, never text him back. Nobody would say he’s ‘failing’ because the world didn’t reply.
Those 3 heroes on 9/11, and others like them, didn’t drive down because they wanted laurels and accolades. They saw a need, and went to work.
Someone patting your back was never the point.
I’m not a monk. I’m not a marine. I have a phone that pings at 9 p.m.
It was never about what I could get from them.
It’s about the kind of man I want to be. If you haven’t taken the pledge yet, check it out.
Start by picking three names, and pray for them.
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Take the Heroic Pledge - pray for 3 men daily