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Momentary Grief and Momentary Joy
“And when, in scenes of glory, I sing a new, new song, ’twill be the old, old story.” We sang this in church today to end to service. I can’t remember when last I sang that old gospel song from my youth but the words came to me instantly, a deep well of memory washed over me and I could hear my mother. I heard her pounding out that bass and could see her in my mind’s eye, full of Spirit and…
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Of first loves and first posts
Of first loves and first posts
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Dad, what's your greatest fear?
Dad, what’s your greatest fear?
“What’s your greatest fear?” She asked me this on a Sunday morning at Whataburger over a pancake platter. Her little eyes looked directly into mine through her smudged glasses with no trace of irony or humor. She wanted to know. In our family, we’ve made it a practice to answer questions seriously with honesty and directness. Does not matter what the subject is – race, sex, math, dish washing –…
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Dad+Fire=Happy
When I was a kid, we lived in a large farmhouse heated by wood during the day. There was, as I recall, a massive oil furnace in the basement, but by my count (I brought in all the wood – my memory) we heated with wood. Winters in Michigan were so cold. The wind would whip over the field in front of our house and blow into the old house. On school mornings, Dad would stand at the foot of the…
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The Hardest Thing
What's the hardest part of deployment for me? Maintaining the un-anxious presence.
“What’s the hardest thing about being deployed?” I get this question from time to time. My Soldiers often make assumptions like, “man Sir, it must be hard for you, having to listen to everyone complain” or “there is no way I could do what you do, deal with everyone’s emotions. It has to be hard for you. How you doing?” I always smile and hear their unsaid story, the one about not being able to…
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The Chaplain and Morale: A Conundrum.
The Chaplain and Morale: A Conundrum.
So, what does a chaplain do? Exactly? Well, the book answer to that question is that a chaplain The Tools of the Trade is the commanders proponent to ensure the freedom of religion for their Soldiers. In other words, religious support. A chaplain: Nurtures the Living, Cares for the Wounded, and Honors the Dead. The Chaplain provides for the free exercise of religion (by performing their faith…
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Cleft of the Rock
Cleft of the Rock
So, here in Iraq, there are times the enemy wants to lash out in their death throws so they lob things at us. We have amazing systems to deal with such things so its not really an issue. When we know it’s coming we run for the bunkers which are placed strategically around the FOB. These bunkers sometimes are built up and reinforced like this Hesco behemoth: But mostly, they are like this one, a…
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Surprising Silence
One of the realities about camp life is that there is no silence. There is always noise. If you are in a tent, either the heater/air is running or the constant hum of the generator assures you that life is happening. Outside the tent, there are vehicles, machinery, the machinations of a war camp, and, lets not forget, the heart-stopping sound of the alarm letting you know trouble is coming fast.…
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Waiting.
Waiting. Transient. Waiting. This is the part I like the least. I won’t say it’s the “worst” part because there are always worse days but I still don’t particularly like it. Soldiers come and go. Everyone is waiting for their number to be called so they can board a plane and get to their mission. Those who are stationed here and doing their job are just working and waiting till they can go home.…
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This is not the end!
This is not the end!
Proper 28 Mark 13 15 NOV 2015 Title: This is not the end!! Context: Field Service at Ft. Sill. Last Sunday of Mission Readiness Exercise in preparation for a deployment in February. Text: Mark 13:1-8 Proposition: There will always be war and rumors of war but have hope, the end is not yet. What makes a phrase “iconic” perhaps the better question to ask is what makes a phrase, “timeless?” In our…
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Mercy Vs Truth
Mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Psalm 85:10 Why would mercy not be with truth? Why don’t they just hang out? Why would it be notable that righteousness and peace kiss? Shouldn’t they just be a thing? Perhaps mercy and truth don’t always need to be around each other. I’m thinking about my years in ministry. When first started teaching, the 6th…
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When "they fight for each other" just isn't good enough
When “they fight for each other” just isn’t good enough
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 11:1 In 2009, I left the “Marne Express” (so called because the 3rd Infantry Division was one of the most deployed divisions in the Army back then and to be stuck there was to be on…
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Ministry by Inches
Years ago, a teacher joined the Army chaplaincy. He was idealistic, hungry, and ambitious. He dreamed of adventure and glory. He had visions of going to war, preaching – Billy Graham style – and flocks of war-torn Soldiers would come to Jesus. If he was really honest, he kinda hoped he’d get a chance to shoot a terrorist or two too. He was a wandering fundamentalist. He had been through 9/11 and…
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If we wrote the rules, we can change them!
If we wrote the rules, we can change them!
A follow up to yesterdays post about Career Management. Thanks to all who read and responded to my thoughts yesterday. I learned something about the Chaplain Corps and about myself. I had some thoughts after working through this yesterday and responding to those to took the time to write me. What follows are some of those thoughts. 1. Perhaps what I am getting after is a paradigm. While working…
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Career Management and the Army Chaplain Corps
Chaplain Corps, you can do better. My entire career, any branch officer could pick up the phone and call branch, have a conversation with the branch manager, see what is open and advocate for what they want. It has seemed fairly straight forward for them and they always look a little confused when I try to explain our system for assignments. So, as I understand it, after 10 years of active…
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A Humble Way Forward
I am, by training and vocation, a systems thinker. When I hear a problem, I first seek to understand the issue as best I can and then pose this question: What system might have caused or contributed to this issue and how can we utilize that same system to bring about movement towards a workable solution? In the past few days, I have read about and heard a great deal of anger, confusion,…
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Institutionalized.
When I was a prison chaplain, one of the offensive things one inmate would say to another was “you’ve been institutionalized.” It was also an anxiety, inmates would seek counseling afraid they had become “institutionalized.” I never looked up the definition. I gathered that, as an insult, it generally meant that an inmate had stopped fighting the system, given in and started just “doing their…
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