{"id":4358,"date":"2025-01-21T09:01:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T14:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4358"},"modified":"2025-01-21T09:01:47","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T14:01:47","slug":"a-hawk-and-a-dove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/21\/a-hawk-and-a-dove\/","title":{"rendered":"A Hawk and a Dove"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

On a frigid night in January 1973, Senator John Stennis was mugged in Washington, D.C.

He was accosted by two gun-wielding teenagers while walking between his car and the front door of his own house.

After the assailants took his money, they announced, \u201cWe\u2019re going to shoot you anyways.\u201d

One of the muggers fired twice.\u00a0The 71-year-old chair of the Armed Services Committee went down, gravely wounded. For more than six hours, surgeons struggled to save the life of the Mississippi Democrat.\u00a0

Another senator, while driving home that evening, heard the news on his radio.

\u201cI had no skills to offer,\u201d he later recalled. \u201cBut I knew there was something I must do \u2013 and that was to go to that hospital and be nearby where I could be helpful, if possible, to the family.\u201d\u00a0He drove towards Walter Reed Medical Center.

Because of Stennis\u2019 stature \u2013 he was one of the Senate\u2019s outspoken \u201chawks\u201d who favored escalating the war in Vietnam \u2013 the hospital scene was chaotic.\u00a0Calls were pouring in to the switchboard. Reporters were crowding the corridors.

The senator who had come to help surveyed the scene.\u00a0He decided to sit down at the switchboard.

\u201cI know how to work one of these,\u201d he said to the hospital staff nearby. \u201cLet me help you out.\u201d

He fielded incoming calls until dawn. Then he stood up, stretched, pulled on his coat, and finally introduced himself.\u00a0\u201cMy name is Hatfield.\u00a0Happy to help out on behalf of a man I deeply respect.\u201d\u00a0

Mark Hatfield (pictured above) was a Republican senator from Oregon.\u00a0As one of the Senate\u2019s most outspoken \u201cdoves,\u201d he strongly favored de-escalating the fighting in Southeast Asia.\u00a0

The senators from Mississippi and Oregon had publicly confronted each other on numerous occasions.\u00a0They rarely agreed on U.S. foreign policy issues.\u00a0But Hatfield, who was overt about his Christian convictions, was entirely serious about showing \u201cdeep respect\u201d to his political opponent.

In this case, respect meant showing up and doing a menial job for an entire night.\u00a0He served anonymously, for no apparent personal or political gain.\u00a0

It\u2019s no secret that such displays of respect \u2013 affirming the humanity of one\u2019s political opponents, and choosing to offer love in the midst of crisis \u2013 are rare in Washington these days.\u00a0A poll a few years ago revealed that 55% of Democrats and 49% of Republicans openly fear the members of the opposite party.\u00a0A prominent Republican recently declared that Democrats \u201care not even people.\u201d\u00a0

Twenty centuries ago, the apostle Paul cast a different vision:

\u201cIf you\u2019ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care<\/u>\u2014 then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don\u2019t push your way to the front; don\u2019t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don\u2019t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand\u201d <\/em>(Philippians 4:1-3, The Message<\/em>).

Reaching across the canyons that separate us from each other is not easy.\u00a0In fact, it\u2019s startlingly rare.

As author and pastor Chuck Swindoll puts it, in his recollection of Hatfield\u2019s actions 52 years ago, \u201cAs rare as a hawk and a dove in the same nest on a cold winter\u2019s night.\u201d

Why would we ever do such a thing?

It just so happens that\u2019s the surest way to experience the warmth of God\u2019s Spirit.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here On a frigid night in January 1973, Senator John Stennis was mugged in Washington, D.C. He was accosted by two gun-wielding teenagers while walking between his car and the front door of his own house. After the assailants took his money, they announced, \u201cWe\u2019re going to shoot you anyways.\u201d One of… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4359,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[104,856],"class_list":["post-4358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-love","tag-respect"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4358","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=4358"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4360,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4358\/revisions\/4360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}