Interesting Times
The Chinese proverb, “beware of living in interesting times” is so true of our present lives. Our armed forces are engaged in conflict around the world, Venezuela, the Middle East, on the seas and in the air. The first three deaths from the Iran bombing are Army soldiers in a country (Kuwait) I once served in.
There are people who want “to make the Chaplaincy great again”. What does that mean? Reviews of how we minister in uniform are currently looking at rank or not for chaplains, reducing religious preference codes, and more. What the end state is for the reviews and the military conflicts is specifically unknown. It is interesting times.
Interesting times bring questions, concerns, and fears. Colleagues have queried me. Strangers have questioned me. People have shared with me worried thoughts and feelings. Well, here is my answer as a veteran Army Chaplain who served in an Army uniform in one capacity or another, primarily as a chaplain, for 39 years.
“But blessed is the person who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence
is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its
roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes, its leaves are
always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to
bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
Despite the chaos and conflict around us, we exercise our sacred callings to “bring God to people and people to God”, actively serving and veterans alike. The entire Army Chaplaincy Family focus our energy and God-given gifts on this mission. This means we conduct the finest religious support possible for all our assigned and attached personnel with their families and all around us as veterans. We are the Army Chaplaincy Family faithfully serving all of our “neighbors” equally with this spiritual sustenance.
This includes our moral and ethical advice, even if our words are not aligned with the prevailing thoughts or actions of the moment or a commander or a neighbor. We cannot hide from truth as we perceive what is right by our beliefs and observations around us. We exist between a “rock and a hard place” always. We are the keeper of confusion and comfort for the soldier’s conscience. It is difficult and dangerous to work in this vineyard of the Lord. Umit Ministry Teams and support staff go where “angels fear to tread”. If it were not so, everybody would want to be where we are.
So in our chaplain ministries we keep our specific focus on the mission, our God with the faith we are gifted with, and our love of soldiers and their families. By prayer and other spiritual exercises, we boldly share our best with love, respect for others, and with equal care to all our “neighbors”. It’s never easy but who would ever want anything less of a challenge than we who are sacredly called at “such a time as this” to be the presence of God where God is sometimes ignored.
Please keep in your prayers our Chief of Chaplains and Regimental Sergeant Major, along with all our UMTs, Directors of Religious Education and Department of the Army Civilians. Some may think ships, planes, tanks, and drones are more powerful, but we know better. Keep praying. God is listening and acting using us as part of the answer to humankind.
God be with all of us in these days ahead as we serve God and Country with our best.
Pro Deo et Patria,
Scottie Lloyd
USACCRA President
