Many years ago, the great American composer Aaron Copland penned a majestic anthem entitled "Fanfare for the Common Man." Over the years, it has become a signature piece at the Olympics and other gatherings that spotlight individual achievement. The dynamic nature of this composition makes you sit up and take notice. The heraldry of its opening notes allows us to know something special is being commemorated.

The title "Fanfare for the Common Man" is dramatically different from other majestic pieces of fanfare music normally written for royalty. This special composition offers the perception that the person being honored is being saluted, not for "right of birth," but rather for personal character and integrity.

The "pomp and circumstance" depicted by this piece signifies the ordinary men and women whose names we do not know and whose lineage we have not memorized from history books. Nevertheless, their everyday activities make a difference.

Promises or premises

This article was inspired by a recent headline of yet another politician "biting the dust" because of personal behavior. It simply struck a raw nerve inside me. Here was an individual who could clean up streets, whether littered with crime or garbage, but at the same time could not clean up the inconsistencies within his own life.

Politicians are so good at trying to save their city, state or country, while they slip into the sewer of compromise. They are so ready to "promise the moon" to their constituents, but falter on the basic premises of personal morality and upright conduct. Initially, they sound good, but the longer their lives play out, the more hollow the ring. As a public, we become disappointed repeatedly.

You may think you know whom I am talking about, but, sadly, what I am saying applies to any number of so-called leaders. Long ago, God gave His own political commentary through the inspired musings of David in Psalm 146:3-4. "Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish." Even with this warning, many keep on hoping in and looking to human leaders-only to be disappointed.

What concerns me is how few people place a high regard on personal integrity and character. Have you fallen into that category? The mindset that satisfies itself with, "I don't mind who is in office as long as the trains run on time, the snow is plowed in front of my house, and I can walk down the street safely." Should it be simply wishful thinking for one to expect that character would be central to leadership?

David himself had to learn the lesson he wrote about in Psalm 146:3-4. While composing wonderful psalms to God and lifting Israel to international prominence, David was also living out another story. On the surface, it was a time of focused "family values" and a strong defense policy. But to what end? While committed to his nation, he was not committed to his family.

Was law and order at the top of his agenda? No question! Just look at the way David cut through the prophet Nathan's story of the rich man and poor man of 2 Samuel 12. David came down harshly on the rich man's extortion of the poor man's lamb. "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity" (2 Samuel 12:5-6). Talk about law and order!

Then Nathan cut to David's heart with his famous retort, "You are the man!" (verse 7). A great leader had lost his values and stolen another man's wife. The example is not lost on today's world. Only the names have changed.

God did not put up with today's notion of the "compartmentalization of character." A man is as he thinks. What he does reflects what he is. Character and commitment to one's pledge was paramount-so important that God allowed David's and Bathsheba's son to die to make the point.

Headlines or lifelines?

In search of an antidote for my disappointment with the headline-making politicians and celebrities, I began to think of all the people around me who are faithful in their responsibilities. Heroes are people who do the right things, at the right times, because they are the right things to do-regardless of threat to life and limb or the hope of financial remuneration or public acclaim.

There are married couples who are faithful to their mates in body and in mind every day. There are citizens who faithfully pay their due portion of taxes every year. There are people who obey the laws of the road every day, and don't think they are the exception to every rule in the book. There are people in every city, every neighborhood and every country who, when riots break out and law and order break down, don't step through the broken window of someone else's store to get what they perceive society "owes them." There are young children and teens in school who are not looking over someone else's shoulders for the answer, but have discovered that the answer is within them through hard work, study and character.

These individuals are not looking to make immediate headlines, but rather lifelines to the future. Oh, they may not be cool or hip in the eyes of their children or their peers. But when all is said and done, they are the people you hope to have as neighbors-just good common folk who work diligently on the basic premise of what you see is what you get. Their character is transparent and honest. They are hardworking examples of lifelines that touch future generations. They testify daily that loyalty, commitment and character are still the building blocks of life.

No, these people may never be featured in a headline or elected to office, but there should be no doubt of their inestimable value. Never underestimate the extraordinary accomplishments that ordinary people like you and me can make on a daily basis. Abraham Lincoln long ago understood the significance of the unsung hero when he stated, "God must truly love the common man, because he made so many of them."

On my honor

While my mind was musing on the fall of another politician, I had the opportunity to go to something very special that rekindled my spirit with hope. A young man in our congregation invited me to his induction as an Eagle Scout. This is the highest level of achievement in the Boy Scout program. Only 2 percent of all the boys who start out in the scouting program obtain this distinction.

What makes these young men stand out is not necessarily their looks, mental aptitude or physical prowess, but rather their commitment to the scouting ideal. It's that "inner something" that they choose to own for themselves, thereby being transformed by its precepts. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes a long time. Most young men today drop out of scouts because of all the demands and allures of society.

Today people don't want to wait for anything-especially character-to take hold. Rather, the focus is on the celebrity, regardless of his or her inner character.

I can still hear the echoes of the pledge young Jonathan made before his scout mentors, fellow troop members and his family:

"On my honor I will do my best, to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the scout law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight."

Lyrics to a fanfare

God has His own fanfare for the majesty of everyday, unadulterated character. It's found in the first Psalm. Featured is an individual whose life exudes the premise that character is precious. Just imagine when the Kingdom of God is established on this earth and society from top to bottom reflects on these lyrics of God's "Fanfare to the Common Man." It's a salute to the ordinary man who taps into an extraordinary picture of what God says can be.

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish" (Psalm 1:1-6).

Each of us has a choice to contribute a verse to the "Fanfare for the Common Man." I suggest that if we do, then we are in harmony with the great millennial refrain, "this is the way, walk you in it."