Have you ever been asked to do something really hard—something that in your wildest dreams you’d never say “yes” to? Think Moses and his marching orders from the burning bush, or Paul on the road to Tarsus, or the angel’s drop-in visit with Mary. Each was asked to do something which, on its face, sounded impossible or implausible. But despite their deep doubts, they were obedient. I’ve never received an assignment as tough as those, but I was mightily challenged more than a decade ago by a friend who asked me to join him for a four-day program with prisoners at Nottoway Correctional Center in Burkeville, a state prison halfway between Richmond and Lynchburg.

When Gen. James L. Jones Jr. parked in front of Westbury Pharmacy in early 2007, none of the regular customers could have known they were witnessing the arrival of the next national security adviser to the president of the United States.