My boyhood best friend and mentor, Jaybird, loved for me to read Biblical stories to him. Because manhood was of paramount importance to the old black man, his favorite stories were about men of great valor.
Jaybird loved hearing about Joshua and Caleb, spies who were sent into Canaan to assess the inhabitants’ strength. Instead of reporting to Moses that the Canaanites would be unconquerable foes, as did the other spies, they described the land as fertile and fruitful. They had no doubt that the Israelites, with God’s unwavering protection, could conquer the inhabitants.
When the people disagreed, God forced them to wander in the wilderness until all of the cowards died. Afterward, Caleb and Joshua led the Israelites into battle and drove out the Canaanites.
Jaybird also loved the Biblical story about Phinehas. When the Israelites camped near Moab, some men intermixed with Moabite women who enticed them to participate in sexual rituals, despite God’s warning. One man, Zimri, even had the nerve to prance by Moses with a Moabite woman before entering his tent. Furious, Phinehas followed, and nailed them to the bed with his spear. For his courageous act, God lifted a plague that had already killed thousands.
Jaybird’s favorite was the David and Goliath story. He was amazed that a teenage boy could exhibit such courage by conquering a Philistine giant whose mere presence caused Saul’s armies to tremble in fear. “Now dat’s sho-nuff manhood,” he’d often say.
The goal, he said, was clear: “… victory at all costs … in spite of all terror … for without victory, there is no survival
Jaybird was a man’s man, and deeply respected manhood in others. Always, he preached to me that courage is the chief virtue and cowardice is the worst of sins. He understood that David willingly put his life on the line to protect his people and to keep them from becoming slaves to the Philistines. For David, as for Jaybird, slavery was not just the absence of freedom; it was death.
From that old man’s teachings, I’ve concluded that peace and the ability to wage war are two sides of the same coin. At present, as the civilized world watches in horror, uncivilized savages are slaughtering innocent people, and proudly displaying videos of beheadings.
Unless defeated, these fanatics will never stop until they’ve wrought terror in the hearts and minds of the American people — on American soil! Sadly, in the face of numerous current global crises, the administration’s answer is always the same: “We are monitoring the situation.”
When Sir Winston Churchill stood before Parliament on May 13, 1940, he said that the English people must “…wage war … with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us … against a monstrous tyranny….” The goal, he said, was clear: “… victory at all costs … in spite of all terror … for without victory, there is no survival.”
This country now faces what England faced when Churchill spoke: a monstrous tyranny. If Americans want peace, they must prepare for war, or in the words of Latin-speaking philosophers of ancient times: Vis pacem, para bellum.
Jimmy Reed is an Oxford, Mississippi resident, Ole Miss and Delta State University alumnus, Vietnam Era Army Veteran, former Mississippi Delta cotton farmer and ginner, author, and retired college teacher.
This story is a selection from Jimmy Reed’s latest book, entitled The Jaybird Tales.
Copies, including personalized autographs, can be reserved by notifying the author via email (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)).
