The ecstasy came from his escape and reunion with his family.
The agony came from the highest total of soldiers killed and wounded in any month since the start of the conflict.
The ecstasy came from a wonderful and dynamic National Prayer Breakfast at Taji where soldiers and civilians gathered to ask God’s blessings on our nation.
The agony came from the horrid rocket attack at that same base a couple of weeks earlier that took four lives, including a reserve captain whose civilian job was as a youth minister. As he lay there dying, he looked at individual soldiers saying, “Joe, I didn’t see you at chapel Sunday; you know you need to go. Bob, I missed you at Bible Study.”
How does one deal with these ecstasies and agonies? Being able to handle the issues of life and death in the context of the eternal is the challenge. It is the work of chaplains and their assistants, and those whom they empower with a living faith. They take care of soldiers with selfless concern, imputing God’s love and grace into the most difficult of situations. And then they take care of each other. May God continue to provide such servants to the military forces of our nation, nurturing their faith, strengthening their moral resolve, and lifting their souls toward heaven.
Lord, may my trials strengthen my faith instead of compel me to doubt.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (James 1:2)
June 19
RISING UP AGAINST EVIL
From an email newsletter dated June 11, 2004:
The abuses at the prison at Abu Gharib are obviously an embarrassment to all. The real hardship that is not known is that the soldiers currently assigned there are taking all the heat and scrutiny, even though they were not present at the time of the abuses last year and have been doing a good job. I have two chaplains permanently assigned there who are very strong in their spiritual leadership and encouragement, and are doing a marvelous job at helping their soldiers handle all the unwanted (and mostly undeserved) visibility. The alleged perpetrators are rightly being handled through the military justice system, but the actions of a very few will tarnish the reputation of the many who are honest and decent soldiers serving honorably.
Yet in light of this event, we were reminded of the nature of this conflict and our purpose for being here. The enemy we seek to stop has shown its true colors with the brutal and horrid decapitation of Nick Berg (added to the desecrations in Fallujah in April, and many other examples). Debates will continue to be conducted over the legitimacy of this war, and history’s story will be written. Yet God alone can determine its legitimacy. However, I cannot help but feel that God-fearing people, and humanity at large, must rise up against such evil as we see in this enemy. If not, then we all lose. As we reflect back sixty years ago to the largest single invasion of all of history at Normandy, we remember “the greatest generation” did precisely this. They knew not what they would find months later in the concentration camps; but when they saw the evil, they had a increased sense of their purpose and legitimacy. More and more, we are finding the same here.
Lord, may my life represent and honor Christ to all those around me.
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)
June 20
U.S. CITIZENSHIP ON FOREIGN SOIL
In October 2004, we had a Naturalization Ceremony, where thirty-four U.S. soldiers from twenty-two nations became U.S. citizens. Until now, all Naturalization Ceremonies took place on U.S. soil by law. But President Bush signed a new law, effective October 1, 2004, which allows soldiers serving in a deployed location to be naturalized on the soil where they serve. Foreigners can join our military, pledging to support and defend (and die for) the Constitution of a nation not their own. Why would someone want to do that? Is it that in spite of our many frailties as a nation, we offer something that no one else does? From the stories of these soldiers, I believe so.
Undersecretary Aquirre, head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, himself a naturalized American citizen, said in his remarks that because of the obvious increase of the threat of major violence against America and Americans worldwide, you’d think that immigration would have dipped in the last few years. We are being ostracized by “friends” and abandoned by “allies,” but individuals are still streaming in ever-increasing numbers to join the hope, and to literally fight for the dream that America promises.
To see the faces of those thirty-four soldiers; to hear the pride in their voices when they took their oath; to see the tears flowing down their cheeks humbled me greatly. To hear the power and meaning in their words when they said the Pledge of Allegiance (including a lusty “UNDER GOD”), made tears flow down my cheeks. And I realized then and there, we still have a future, and God willing, we still have a bright future. The hopes and dreams that made America (out of a bunch of immigrants) two-plus centuries ago, is still here.
The country debates whether this war is worth it. I think the good I see happening, though hidden by the spectacular tragedies, makes me say yes. But when I see the power of purpose in the faces of new Americans in whom our future resides, then I know beyond the shadow of any doubt, yes it’s worth it. And I am proud.
Lord, help me appreciate more fully the great freedoms I have in America, but even more so, the freedom I have in Christ.
“Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the King.” (1 Peter 2:17)
June 21
SCENE OUT OF
It was like an episode of
Chaplains are vital parts of the emergency medical team, but they have to know how to stay out of the way of the medical folks. Usually that means that they are positioned at the head of the patient where they can easily
