When I was a boy my dad took me to see Sergeant Alvin York who was a WWI hero. He was failing in health, so we sat on the edge of his bed and he allowed me to hold the rifle that he had used to capture 200 Germans.

He was an expert marksman and he had earlier in life developed this ability while hunting for food.

If you saw the movie that was made of his life, it recreated how he had shot down geese by shooting the ones in the back of their formation first.

The Germans that he captured were deceived into thinking they were surrounded by an army of men.

One man moving around them on the high ground, shooting as he moved, was able to make the Germans think that the only option that they had was to give up.

Even though Sergeant York was an expert shot, his advantage was that he was on the high ground looking down on the situation. The Germans were in a low area and they had no vision of what was beyond their position.

They bought into the deception and gave up their freedom because of it. The truth was that if they could have had a clear vision, they would have very easily come out of what seemed to be a helpless situation.

When the tough situations of life seem to have us surrounded, is it a lack of vision on our part that defeats us?

How can 200 trained soldiers buy into a belief that defeated them? There would have been a ranking officer that would have given the order to surrender. What if only he could have seen the truth?

He led his troops into defeat, but was he the only one that had to suffer the consequences?

These and other life questions will be addressed Sunday morning as “The Gathering Place Family” meets at 240 Courthouse Parkway in Washington C.H. for Life Groups at 9:30 and in the lobby at 10 a.m. for our Pre-Service Connection where we enjoy coffee, juice and donuts. Our Worship Service and Children’s Church then begins at 10:30. Come at 7 p.m. and be part of our Wednesday night Bible Study and Children’s Ministry.