It’s an icy day here, the schools are closed for something called a Flexible Instruction Day (which means there is virtual busy work to do so that the day counts towards the total), and I’m not going anywhere, so I figured I’d fill you in on some things.

There’s a new Max documentary called Cult of Fear, about the Indian guru Asaram Bapu. I don’t have to tell you how much I love cult docs, do I? This checks all of the boxes for a disturbing cult story – violence, murder, sexual assault, unchecked power, greed, money, and the blind faith of followers. The guru and his son are in prison “until their last breath” because of the courage and tenacity of some young women (victims and police) and principled men who would not accept what their ashram had become. My favorite line came at the very end, when a man summed up the victory as a fight “where every warrior performed their duty with complete conviction.” Awesome.

Of course, the cult still has 40 million members, so not everyone performed their duty with conviction, but enough to be encouraging to warriors who are wrestling with the status quo and the temptation to give up because, after all, “what can I do?” Well, the truth is, apparently, quite a lot.

Then, last night was senior night at the high school basketball game. My youngest son (who I brought home from the hospital at 6lbs only yesterday!!!) is an excellent basketball player, and now has 1 more game in his high school career. 2 things abut this:

The season began as a celebration of his passionate hard work to prepare and the fruit of that work. He was better every game and was willing his team to victory almost every night. Until an injury took 3 full games and affected the rest, after his return. He is, maybe, 50% and they’ll miss the playoffs, which were a foregone conclusion without the injury. He has handled the disappointment with class and grace. At home, I see & feel his wounded heart, but he continues to show up in every way for his teammates. He has placed his personal points goal secondary to getting his teammate his personal achievements.

That was the first thing, and the second was… Well, let’s just say the adult leadership he has had has not been awesome… I’ll bite my tongue until it bleeds and say no more about that.

Guru means “mentor, guide, expert or master” in Sanskrit. (Maybe we can omit the regrettable “master,” and just use it to mean mentor or guide? I will if you will, too. We all need Sanskrit terms in our lives.) So, who is guiding us through our lives? Have we chosen carefully? If we’re sliding down the face of a cliff and we reach out for something to grab onto, do our hands find that with deep, deep roots? Or will it easily pull out, providing the worst kind of aid?

It matters who and/or what we choose to follow. The people who were under the teaching of Asaram Bapu & his son were led astray. They weren’t necessarily wrong or evil or anything, they just happened to choose 2 someones who were. My boy was placed into a situation where the leadership was, um, less than ideal, and at the same time, he is becoming exactly the kind of man who you would be lucky to have as your guide. I guess the point is that we weren’t made to do any of this alone, and it is of the utmost importance who we choose to do to be our gurus & partners. I’m more grateful than I can tell you for mine.