The Online Chaplain

Out of the Mouth's of Babes

About two weeks ago my seven year old and I were talking on the phone.  He asked me the question of the month, “Dad, are you going to be home for Christmas?”  I said, “I’m sorry buddy, but, I have to stay here in Iraq and take care of soldiers.”  There was a moment pause and then my angelic little seven year old blurted out, “Daaaamn it!”  Yep, my little innocent pastor’s kid who has faithfully had his mouth washed out with soap for these little indiscretions cussed, like an old farmer.

I acted immediately, “Buddy, quickly hand the phone to your mom.”  You see I knew his normally mild mannered mother was moving the moment those words left his mouth.  The matriarch of my clan has zero tolerance for a foul mouth.  Zero!  I knew the first thing to come into her mind when the pristine quiet of her home was violated was “I brought him into the world and now I am going to take him out.”  So, if I was going to save my youngest I had to act quickly, “Buddy, quick hand the phone to your mom.”  By the tone of her voice I knew my instincts were correct.

I just said one thing at that moment and we both realized the truth of it.  “Honey, he shouldn’t be disciplined for saying what all of us were thinking.  O.K???”  There was a long pause and then I heard the fire in my beloved subside.  She said, “OK.” 

Well, we are through the holidays and my little boy said it best.  Yep, being away from your family during the holidays sucks, it just does.  And it is alright to say so.  Too often we think the Christian way, or even the best way is to paint a smiley face on loss and march on.  We mistake Christianity with Pollyannaism.  However, a theologian of the cross, calls a thing what it is.  That which is difficult is a trial.  That which is painful brings sorrow.  There are real tragedies, real pain, real sorrow and loss to deal with in this world and a fresh coat of paint is not helpful.  It is what it is.  And thanks to my seven year old for naming it.

However, there is another truth of equal importance.  It is the truth about God.  Right in the midst of our loss stands Jesus calling to us saying, “You who are heavy laden come to me and I will give you rest.”  Right in the middle of our sorrow stands Jesus with a promise of strength saying, “As your days are numbered so shall your strength be.”  Every loss, every sorrow, every pain bears the fruit of hope.  Romans 5:3 says, “Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope.  Hope does not disappoint us.” 

So, what is healthiest for us?  What is it that God would have us do with the sorrow of our lives?  The Christian way is to name the pain and name the gain.  We stand in the sorrow so we might name the victory.  Even in this place away from family there were great gifts.  On Christmas Night I sat on my porch with five Christian brothers smoking cigars.  We agreed on this, “I wouldn’t go through this again for anything, but I wouldn’t have missed for the world.” 

Whatever your loss is right now, name the pain and name the gain.  In the midst of your sorrow you will find peace and strength.  In the midst of your pain suffering you will find hope.  You are not alone.  I promise.

theonlinechaplain

Christmas at War

Alright, it’s here.  In three days we will be celebrate Christmas.  The holiday synonymous with family gatherings, singing carols, going to church together and being a family.  So, how do you handle the holidays when you are at war?  Here are some tips…

1. Celebrate the fact you are not alone.  As alone as we may feel from time to time we are not.  We are here with a team.  We have battle buddies, friends, and a host of people here that are a “family away from family.”  Not only do we have the presence of some very great people, we also have the promise of God.  In the worlds of Jesus, “I will be with you always…”

2. Celebrate the deferred Christmas gift you are about to receive.  I believe I am about to get the best Christmas present of my whole life.  Here it is!  I will never again be able to take Christmas for granted.  I will never again be able to have even a small bit of “bah humbug.”  I will never again be able to ignore the greatness of this event.  After this Christmas every Christmas that is to follow will be a treasure. 

3. Remember that the truth about Christ’s birth can not be diminished by time or circumstances.  Jesus is still sending his spirit, his angels and coming personally to say, “I bring you glad tidings of great joy…”  Christ came two thousand years ago and he has never stopped entering the world, and hearts, even yours.

The character of a person can be measured by how they handle trials.  You can measure them by the sacrifices you are called to make, or by the blessings you are going to receive.  The latter is the better path.  We can do this.  "I bring you good news of great joy, for unto you this day in the city of David is born the Messiah."

Merry Christmas.  Christ is born.  Alleluia 

Soldier Families

A lot is said about the character of the american soldier by the media.  But, not so much is mentioned about the character of the families of american soldiers.  Perhaps, here is where the credit lies.  The following comes out of the Kentucky National Guard, a portion of which is deployed with the 1BCT to Iraq.

Last week one of our soldiers tradgically died.  His memorial ceremony is today 16DEC06.  When the Casualty Assistance Officer (CAO) made initial contact with the soldier's 17 year old son, he expressed his condolences to the young man and began to tell him the initial information of what a CAO will do for him and his family. The son sat and listened intensely. When asked if he had any questions, the first question out of the young man's mouth was, "How do I enlist." He said that his dad had answered the call and God had taken him to a better place. He said he felt it was time for him to step up and take his Dad's place.

How about that! Faced with the death of his father, his concern and drive was to take the place in the ranks that his Dad had vacated and continue to fight for the freedom of people he does not know.  His comments were not only a tribute to his family, but a tribute to humanity. 

Thank you to Major John Cline - KYARNG for sharing this with us.

Advent

My wife and I after twenty years of raising kids now have a new phrase in our lives.  The phrase is “someday, when it’s just the two of us…”  We are beginning to anticipate, some times long for, the days when it is just us again.  Now, to some this might seem a little harsh.  To those who haven’t served their twenty years and felt the full degree of exhaustion and to grandparents who God has granted the sweet release of selective memory and the satisfaction of inflicting revenge upon their children by spoiling their kids,  this might sound a bit harsh.  Maybe it is, or maybe it is simply God beginning the process of preparing us for the inevitable, the empty nest. 

Regardless, the phrase is there, “someday when it is just the two of us….”  Someday, the garage will be clean, the kitchen won’t need to be cleaned every night.  Oh, how I long to finish a can of pop by myself.  What will it feel like to walk into the TV room and actually be able to locate a remote?  Or, to have a telephone that does not have a teenager growing out of it?  What will it be like to go into the bathroom in the morning and have it not look like a Mary Kay truck just exploded?  Someday…   But, on thing is for sure today is not someday.  We are somewhere in between someday and almost there.

Someday …we am going home.  We will leave Iraq and we will resume our roles in life.  Someday…we will begin the process of acclimation to the life that used to be our primary reality.  Someday…we will see our spouses, our children, our friends and our family and we will know this season is over.  Someday…we will get off the plane and land once again on American soil and from that point forward stand tall as part of the proud fraternity called veterans.  Someday…we will wake up in our own beds and be confident no one will try to kill us.  Someday…the most difficult thing on the agenda will be class schedules, what to cook for supper, office politics and relationships.  Someday…

      But, one things is for sure today is not someday. 
      We are stuck somewhere between someday and almost there. 

The church has traditionally called this season Advent.  It is the time when we patiently await the arrival of Christ.  It is the time we patiently wait for hope.  While the rest of the world frantically rushes to create Christmas, we wait for it.  We wait with the full realization the truth of Christmas can not be added to by our creative, frantic, well meant, fervor.  Christmas is a truth of its own.  It can not be added to nor detracted from.  It simply is…

The great truths of the bible have not stood the test of time because we have validated them and declared them true.  They are true because they declare the truth about our creator.  In the case of Christmas, yes, it is true Christmas is the celebration of the historical birth of Christ.  But, it is also true Christmas is the recognition that Christ will come again.  And even more so, it is the declaration Christ comes over and over again and is born into the hearts and minds of all of us.  Christ is coming, he always has, he always will.  He is coming for you!

I don’t know the season of Advent you find yourself in at this time.  Depression, health, relational advents spring up like wildfires and have a life of their own.  But, I do know that soon your Advent will be over and Christmas will be here.  Be ready.  If you are stuck between someday and almost there know that you won't be there forever.  As a soldier I know this.  Now, I am in the season of Advent.  I am in the Advent of my life called deployment.  But, sometime soon….Christmas is coming.  I’ll be ready.

Lost Voice

Sometimes you lose your voice.  A number of years ago I stood before my congregation and I recited the Words of Institution for Holy Communion.  “Christians, in the night in which he was betrayed our Lord took bread, and gave thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying…”  I had said these words for a decade in hundreds of situations but on this particular morning…I had no cotton picking idea what Jesus said after he broke that bread.  Awkward moment doesn’t begin to describe the feeling.

So, I decided to take another run at it.  “Christians, in the night in which was betrayed our Lord took bread, and gave thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying…”  Yep, you guessed it.  Still got nothing!  The elevator is going to the top floor of the building of memory, but I just can’t get the dang doors to open.  The congregation is now deeply anxious for their pastor and visibly shifting in their seats trying to figure out how to save him from himself.

Now, lesser men would have given up at this point.  Not me, I had one more try in me.  So, “Christians, in the night in which he was betrayed our Lord took bread, and gave thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying…”  Still got nothing!  Zip!  Nothing!  Goose Egg!  Skunked!  So, I did what any self respecting preacher would do.  I said, “Oh for Pete’s sake.”  I don’t know who Pete is, but I know he was laughing his butt off at me on this Sunday morning.  I finally opened up the Lutheran Book of Worship and I read the words.  When I was done the congregation applauded.

Sometimes you lose your voice.  Recently, for reasons I am not sure of I haven’t had much to write about.  Words didn’t flow, ideas didn’t germinate and I simply have not produced much.  C’mon if you are a regular on theonlinechaplain.com you were glad you didn’t have a subscription.  You would have wanted a refund, me too.

We all lose our voice from time to time.  Soon, thousands of soldiers will return to the United States with a serious case of laryngitis.  I for one am going to leave the memories of this place behind.  I am guessing I will follow in the tradition of my grandfather.  When I am old, I will tell a few family members so they can understand the costs paid by so many.   Until then, if it will leave me alone I want to leave it alone.

I am not overly concerned about this verbal affliction.  Frankly, it has been my experience people do understand.  I have received hundreds of affirmations from friends, family and strangers this past year.  Despite the politic aspects of the war, American’s stand behind their soldiers with a dedication I had never witnessed before. 

And I also know there is someone to speak for me and all other soldiers.  As soldiers we have voluntarily marginalized ourselves.  We have said we would go where others can not, we will do what others are not able too.  For the sake of our country and the principle of duty we have willfully and knowingly marginalized ourselves – lost our voice. 

But, we are not in any way left silent.  Though we may not choose to speak we have a spokesperson.  We have an ambassador, a compatriot who has been with us through every step of this deployment.  He was there for every struggle, every divorce, every birth, every death and every injury.  He understands where we have been because he walked beside us through out the long days and nights.  He speaks for us when we have lost our voice and represents us when we are cast aside.  Christ Jesus has always, always… had a fondness for the marginalized.  His own words, “I came not for the healthy, but the sick”, his own words, “I came for the lost”, reveal his prejudice.  In his own words, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

-theonlinechaplain- 

He Done all He Could

If you ever get a chance to travel in Arizona I hope you will visit Tombstone.  In one of the most unlikely spots, in Tombstone AZ, on Boot Hill you will find a great definition of Christian faithfulness, or any other kind for that matter.  Tombstone is a ghost town filled with notorious characters, people like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. However, the most interesting character of all is “Jack Williams.”  Engraved on the headstone of this simple man buried at Boot Hill the inscription reads…

      “Here lies Jack Williams
        He done all he could.” 

I hope when I die people will be able to say, “Here lies the Chaplain.  He done all he could.”  Now, I hope I don’t go down in a blaze of gunfire like ole Jack Williams.  But, if I do, I hope it is doing all that I could.  It would be better to die doing all you can, then being alive and less than you were meant to be. 

At the beginning of the 21st century I surmise faithful is one of the most powerful words in our global vocabulary.  It is however a two-edged sword.  On the one hand it invites us to achieve.  It whispers to each of us “be everything you were meant to be.”  It calls us to duty and sacrifice, perseverance and to take the high road.  On the other hand, it whispers another truth.  It slides up beside us and with words of indictment whispers, “look around you – faithful the world is not.”  It appears like everyone is just looking out for themselves.  Faithful doesn’t seem like the description we would use about the current trends in society. 

In this era, I have a suspicion people pick and choose values, like faithfulness, much like they shop at WalMart.  Pick up what you need, when you need it, and when you are done with it – throw it away.  I see this “way of life” every time I turn on the TV and it stands in stark contrast to the life of the soldier.  I know full well many people stereotype soldiers.  In most people’s eyes soldiers are “young republicans” with guns.  They are right wing banditos of the Bush administration wreaking havoc across the planet.  Truth is aggression and political ideology is not our common denominator.  We are a collage of political views and values.  And I will say again, “Nobody hates aggression more than a soldier.”  NOBODY.

What we do have in common is our feelings about duty and faithfulness.  We came to this war because our nation asked us too.  We did our best because we said we would.  We don’t hypothesize about this wars merits or its value.  We are to busy trying to carry out our mission to protect ourselves and the people of this country.  We are content to let history unfold and tell us whether we were part of a heroic effort, or a foolish endeavor.  It is our watch and we will stay till the end.  Faithfulness in our vocabulary means the difference between coming back through the front gate alive or being flown to Germany in a medivac flight.  It is not just a word – it is our way of life. 

America needs men and women like those who serve in the military.  It needs people who when things get tough will bend their back into the plow simply because they refuse to be beaten.  It needs people who are willing to sacrifice for the sake of others, regardless of the cost or popularity. 

There are two enterprises that will not survive if we forget our call to faithfulness – democracy and Christianity.  Both were designed to give us liberty, but not license.  Both were designed to give us freedom, but not to do whatever we want.  Both were designed to keep us safe, but not for ourselves, rather others.  Both invest in us so we might invest in others.  Both exist for our blessing so we might bless others.  Both exist under the rule of God and both are in jeopardy if we are not faithful to what God has called us.  If you care about either, stay the course, join the fight, never quit. 

Remain Faithful – to the end.  Hopefully, on your grave marker they will say about you,  “He done all he could.”