{"id":1073,"date":"2021-10-05T08:38:49","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T12:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1073"},"modified":"2021-10-05T08:38:49","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T12:38:49","slug":"throw-your-cap-over-the-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/05\/throw-your-cap-over-the-wall\/","title":{"rendered":"Throw Your Cap Over the Wall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Most gifted speakers make use of a handful of signature stories \u2013 anecdotes they can pull out at a moment\u2019s notice to drive home special points.

John F. Kennedy used one of his favorite stories at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.  He was present to dedicate the new School of Aerospace Medicine.

It was the heyday of America\u2019s commitment to the space race, and the four new facilities at Brooks would provide critical support for the emerging astronaut program.  \u201cI have come to Texas today to salute an outstanding group of pioneers,\u201d he announced.

Then he referenced the Irish writer Frank O\u2019Connor, who recalled how he and his friends, as boys, would make their way across the Irish countryside.  When they came to a wall that was too high to climb or too imposing to permit their journey to continue, they would take off their caps and toss them over the wall.

This was an act of supreme commitment, since they knew their mothers would skin them alive if they lost their caps. 

They now had no choice but to scale the wall and retrieve them. 

JFK declared:  \u201cMy friends, this nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space, and we have no choice but to follow it.  Whatever the difficulties, they must be overcome.  Whatever the hazards, they must be guarded against.  With the vital help of all who labor in this space endeavor, we will climb this wall with safety and speed, and we shall then explore the wonders on the other side.\u201d

The crowd of 9,000 gave him a standing ovation.

No one suspected that Kennedy\u2019s dedication speech on that warm Thursday afternoon of November 21, 1963, would be his last official act as President.  He was assassinated the following day in Dallas. 

What is commitment?  It is continuing on a worthwhile path, long after the emotion that set us on that path has faded.

Or as Jesus puts it in Luke 9:62, in a picture that everyone in his first century agrarian culture could understand:  \u201cNo one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.\u201d

The word \u201ccourage\u201d comes from the Latin word cor, <\/em>which means \u201cheart.\u201d 

You\u2019ve made a commitment to become God\u2019s person.  Or to dive into Scripture as never before.  Or to become a voice to speak the Good News.  Or to work for the reconciliation of people who are so angry that they haven\u2019t spoken to each other for years.  Now\u2026do you have the courage to go forward?  Is your heart in it?<\/em>

Throw your cap over the wall.  Leave yourself no choice but to go forward.

Only God knows how many tomorrows we still have.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most gifted speakers make use of a handful of signature stories \u2013 anecdotes they can pull out at a moment\u2019s notice to drive home special points. John F. Kennedy used one of his favorite stories at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.  He was present to dedicate the new School of Aerospace Medicine. It was the heyday of… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[93],"class_list":["post-1073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-commitment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1073"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1075,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073\/revisions\/1075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}