Post by lovelace on Jan 7, 2006 7:06:16 GMT -5
Al Cecere: "On Wings of Eagles"
His faith journey took him from the White House to Woodstock and back again.
by Brian Connor
In the late 1960's, Washington, DC was a city in chaos. Al Cecere was there to see it all up-close. A member of the Coast Guard, he served on President Lyndon Johnson's honor guard. But civil rights protests, peace marches and anti-war demonstrations all began to change the way Al saw the world.
"When I came to DC and the honor guard, I saw just about everything in upheaval," Cecere says. "As a young man, I had a very hard time figuring out what was going on. It confused me quite a bit."
By the time Al left the Coast Guard in 1969, the entire country was in turmoil. He reacted to the national unrest by embracing America's counter-culture.
"When I got out, I basically kinda started questioning a lot of things in America… like a lot of young people did," Cecere explains. "I went to things like Woodstock. And, I went back to DC and even protested against the war."
"When I came to DC… I saw just about everything in upheaval. As a young man, I had a very hard time figuring out what was going on. It confused me quite a bit."
"I was very much into the culture of the time," Al continues. "It was kind of a wild environment to say the least." But in the midst of that "wild environment," God began reaching out to Cecere in a personal and surprising way. A song by Bob Dylan put Al on a new path… one that led away from the counter-culture, toward faith in Jesus Christ.
"'You've Got to Serve Somebody'… that song just kind of cut to my soul and to my heart because the words were very simple. And I just started to realize that I had lost God. And yeah, I did have to serve somebody." Another important stop along Al's spiritual journey was a church in the country-music capital of the world… Belmont Church in Nashville, Tennessee.
"The spirit started to change me little by little over a period of a couple of years," Al remembers. "But I accepted the Lord at that church."
"At that moment, I just felt like I was renewed," Cecere continues. "To think, all the sins I now realized I committed in my wild 'wine, women and song'…period of my life in my 20's, that this Lord was going to be able to erase that and just take it away, forgive it and allow me to start over."
"This Lord was going to be able to erase that and just take it away, forgive it and allow me to start over."
"'You've Got to Serve Somebody'… that song just kind of cut to my soul and to my heart because the words were very simple," Al says. "'You've got to serve somebody. It may be the devil. It may be the lord. But you've got to serve somebody.' "
Part of Al's re-start included a rekindling of his childhood love for animals. With God's help -- and the support of his wife, Gretchen, and their five children --Cecere founded the American Eagle Foundation. The non-profit organization has been preserving and protecting America's national symbol and other birds of prey since 1985.
"I'd went through the 60's and that whole thing and in a lot of ways criticized America," Al says. "And I wanted to give something back to America. And it was kinda… I felt, like being redeemed.
Today, Al travels across the United States sharing the beauty of God's Creation with the help of a special ambassador. Challenger, an American Bald Eagle, is trained to fly into sports stadiums during the playing of the National national hymn.
"God gave me this vision to train this eagle to do that," Cecere explains. "And, as I started going out to different big games, I started to realize that the American public was just responding in an awesome way to it." God has taken Al and Challenger from the White House to the World Series, and many other places in between. Since the 1960's, Cecere has gone from serving his country in the military, to rejecting it as a radical, to helping restore one of its most revered creatures.
"God amazes me," Al admits. "From all that I've been through from the time I was a child, to what I went through in the 60's, to what I've experienced here in the past 20 or 30 years saving America's symbol, I'm just amazed how patient God has been with me. I'm amazed how forgiving He has been and how He still is forgiving. And I'm very amazed by His power."
To learn more about Al Cecere and Challenger, the Bald Eagle, visit the America Eagle Foundation Website at www.eagles.org.
His faith journey took him from the White House to Woodstock and back again.
by Brian Connor
In the late 1960's, Washington, DC was a city in chaos. Al Cecere was there to see it all up-close. A member of the Coast Guard, he served on President Lyndon Johnson's honor guard. But civil rights protests, peace marches and anti-war demonstrations all began to change the way Al saw the world.
"When I came to DC and the honor guard, I saw just about everything in upheaval," Cecere says. "As a young man, I had a very hard time figuring out what was going on. It confused me quite a bit."
By the time Al left the Coast Guard in 1969, the entire country was in turmoil. He reacted to the national unrest by embracing America's counter-culture.
"When I got out, I basically kinda started questioning a lot of things in America… like a lot of young people did," Cecere explains. "I went to things like Woodstock. And, I went back to DC and even protested against the war."
"When I came to DC… I saw just about everything in upheaval. As a young man, I had a very hard time figuring out what was going on. It confused me quite a bit."
"I was very much into the culture of the time," Al continues. "It was kind of a wild environment to say the least." But in the midst of that "wild environment," God began reaching out to Cecere in a personal and surprising way. A song by Bob Dylan put Al on a new path… one that led away from the counter-culture, toward faith in Jesus Christ.
"'You've Got to Serve Somebody'… that song just kind of cut to my soul and to my heart because the words were very simple. And I just started to realize that I had lost God. And yeah, I did have to serve somebody." Another important stop along Al's spiritual journey was a church in the country-music capital of the world… Belmont Church in Nashville, Tennessee.
"The spirit started to change me little by little over a period of a couple of years," Al remembers. "But I accepted the Lord at that church."
"At that moment, I just felt like I was renewed," Cecere continues. "To think, all the sins I now realized I committed in my wild 'wine, women and song'…period of my life in my 20's, that this Lord was going to be able to erase that and just take it away, forgive it and allow me to start over."
"This Lord was going to be able to erase that and just take it away, forgive it and allow me to start over."
"'You've Got to Serve Somebody'… that song just kind of cut to my soul and to my heart because the words were very simple," Al says. "'You've got to serve somebody. It may be the devil. It may be the lord. But you've got to serve somebody.' "
Part of Al's re-start included a rekindling of his childhood love for animals. With God's help -- and the support of his wife, Gretchen, and their five children --Cecere founded the American Eagle Foundation. The non-profit organization has been preserving and protecting America's national symbol and other birds of prey since 1985.
"I'd went through the 60's and that whole thing and in a lot of ways criticized America," Al says. "And I wanted to give something back to America. And it was kinda… I felt, like being redeemed.
Today, Al travels across the United States sharing the beauty of God's Creation with the help of a special ambassador. Challenger, an American Bald Eagle, is trained to fly into sports stadiums during the playing of the National national hymn.
"God gave me this vision to train this eagle to do that," Cecere explains. "And, as I started going out to different big games, I started to realize that the American public was just responding in an awesome way to it." God has taken Al and Challenger from the White House to the World Series, and many other places in between. Since the 1960's, Cecere has gone from serving his country in the military, to rejecting it as a radical, to helping restore one of its most revered creatures.
"God amazes me," Al admits. "From all that I've been through from the time I was a child, to what I went through in the 60's, to what I've experienced here in the past 20 or 30 years saving America's symbol, I'm just amazed how patient God has been with me. I'm amazed how forgiving He has been and how He still is forgiving. And I'm very amazed by His power."
To learn more about Al Cecere and Challenger, the Bald Eagle, visit the America Eagle Foundation Website at www.eagles.org.
