ImPalin' Sarah and Raisin' McCain

Then Judah went up to him and said: "Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or a brother?' And we answered, 'We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.' "Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.' And we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.' But you told your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.' …"So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy's life, sees that the boy isn't there, he will die…Your servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father…"Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father." (Genesis 44:18-34)

Alaska is a long way from Washington, D.C., in more ways than one. Just ask Sarah Palin, the young, fresh governor from the frozen tundra. Despite an 80% approval rate—which is unbelievable given today’s political climate—the nation’s watchdogs and media elite have had a field day with her choice to join John McCain on the Republican ticket. She’s been vetted, paraded, skewered and toasted all in one week. I hope you didn’t miss her national “coming out” at the Republican Convention. Her speech reinvigorated the conservative base, challenged the status quo and sent tremors through the liberal left. As Palin confessed, the only difference between a “hockey mom and a pit bull is the lipstick.” Palin may not be the reincarnation of Ronald Reagan for the Grand Old Party, but she’s no B-list actress either. She’s the real deal.

What’s truly remarkable is how this ordinary, obscure woman made her meteoric rise onto the national political stage. Born in Idaho and raised in Wasilla, AK, Palin was a champion basketball player known affectionately as “Sarah Barracuda” for her team leadership and Christian witness. She’s a former beauty queen, television sports reporter and just your average mom until the day she ran for City Council. Palin’s no-nonsense political prowess and leadership made her a formidable foe, especially on issues related to fiscal irresponsibility, taxation, abortion, religion and gun control. In 1996, she beat an incumbent mayor and spent the next 10 years being groomed for a higher calling as Alaska’s governor. Two years later John McCain tags her as a running mate. Palin is a committed Christian “hockey mom” of five children with the right stuff and spunk to vault the senior senator to the White House.

You just never know where life will lead you.

Joseph and Sarah Palin have a lot in common. They both understand character assassination, setbacks, the bleeding edge and the favor of a pick. Pharaoh vetted an accused Hebrew rapist and named him just a heartbeat away from the Egyptian throne (a decision that surely wagged media tongues and ignited political fire from critics). Of course, protest was futile and might earn a quick desert burial.

Joseph is no Egyptian insider. He doesn’t have pedigree or wealth or social security. He earned his master’s degree as a slave. He’s as at home with thugs and thieves as he is with princes and presidents. Joseph understands the little guy. He’s been on the bottom looking up. He knows hunger and hate, pain and pressure. In fact, he probably missed life as a nomad rancher. Big city Egyptian culture has its perks but some days the sound of bleating sheep is attractive. Joseph, like Sarah Palin, is just an ordinary guy with an extraordinary calling. And as with Palin, he has his private family matters and, sometimes, that means the need to raise some Cain. In this particular episode, Judah pleads with Joseph (still not recognizing his own brother) to change his mind about Benjamin. “This’ll kill dad!” Judah begs, “the boy is his only hope in life.” Judah knows if he goes home without Ben, his father Jacob will have nothing left to live for. It’s a situation pregnant with possibilities.

Ultimately, Sarah Palin, Judah, Jacob and Joseph remind us that we can’t see everything coming. We can be equally blindsided and blessed by life. Sometimes bad things and good things happen. Sometimes daughters make mistakes. Sometimes brothers create pain. Sometimes daddies die. Sometimes mommies lead. Sometimes we get picked by princes and sometimes elected mayor of a small town in the middle of nowhere. It’s not where we start that matters; in the end it’s how we finish.

And how we live and lead every moment in-between.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON LEADERSHIP:

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” (Harold R. McAlindon)

“Go to the people. Learn from them. Live with them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. The best of leaders when the job is done, when the task is accomplished, the people will say we have done it ourselves.” (Lao Tzu)

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” (John Quincy Adams)

“A leader is a dealer in hope.” (Napoleon Bonaparte)

Father, I fully sense within me Your Call and Desire. Help me in this hour of hesitation to walk boldly forward and lead with integrity, insight and inspiration. I may never partner with presidents or dine with dignitaries, but regardless of my destiny I simply seek Your Peace and Protection. Amen.