(Wikipedia)
700 kills in 100 days or something crazy. kinda wild right? But his main complications were the snow, the freezing cold and the lack of sights. Some can’t shoot without a scope, but this guy made a career out of it. The temperatures were below freezing and probably with the wind blowing and craziness. He remarked that sights on a scope would give away his position. troops had heard there was a bounty on this man named ‘white death’.
why would I bother telling you all about this man named ‘white death’? well, simple, really. he can teach us about Christianity, goal setting and perseverance. I’m not encouraging the sniping of people. War is never very pretty. luckily the war is not here on American soil yet or Canada or England but there is involvements and some certainly important decisions which may change things. we are lucky. some watch tv one day and see the tanks roll in the next. but, the point: we are commanded not to kill. I think God makes an exception for war because that is a very different animal but that’s diving where the board wont bounce.
the man teaches us that we aren’t always able to just sit home and not get involved. sometimes, war finds us. sometimes, we find it by accident. sometimes, we think we run from it but find later we have ran to it. Courage is required as a Christian but also wisdom. find the balance. find life.
If we have to do something, we might as well be good at it. we might as well be so good at it that hordes of people search us out and try to kill us. well, i’d prefer not that but lots of people must still, in this day, stand for something or fall for anything. this man shot and shot, I happen to think he was good at it before that but, I think survival hones any skill. man hungry in the woods will learn to kill something to eat. it takes hunger sometimes to hone and strengthen us. then the war is over and we (generally) try to go back to the previous unenchanted life we once knew. not always possible.
we can’t say we can stand up if we are afraid of the cold or too concerned with warmth and comfort. I would like to say that I would not hesitate to announce Christ, but all of us who are not faced with that particular horror cannot rightly say. I have faith, in that moment, I will not deny my Saviour no matter the consequence. What does this guy remind you of? or other lessons I might have overlooked????
