Living to serve
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By Ryder Stevens, published on Spirituality.com
Veterans around the world, no matter what war they served in, share a common experience of investing themselves in their nation, supporting what they believe to be a true cause, motivated by a heartfelt desire to contribute to humanity’s betterment.
But for some veterans, the effects of war seem to follow them and their families. In the United States, much has been written about the effects of stress as soldiers return home after service in Afghanistan or Iraq. In extreme cases, this is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
After serving in combat as a chaplain with the 82nd Airborne Division, I was aggravated in crowds, I started to sweat when I was close to people, and I became ill-tempered over simple things. I recognized these symptoms as signs of early PTSD when I was attending a training conference. I looked up at a slide as they described the symptoms and realized, “That’s me.”
A veteran reflects on God’s care
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By George Zucker, Published in The Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 10, 2011
One July afternoon in 1955, my grandmother and a friend sat rocking on the porch, talking about their grandkids. Grandma seemed worried. The United States Air Force had sent me to Alaska, and she hadn’t heard from me. Her friend, a Red Cross volunteer, offered to help. She contacted a New Jersey congressman who then called the Pentagon. I was called in by my base commander at our remote radar site in Alaska and stood smartly at attention while the major scolded me for not keeping the home folks apprised of my well-being. Then he ordered me to my quarters to do so immediately.
I still smile recalling this, knowing that my grandmother, in her heart, wasn’t really worried about me. Because of what she’d learned about God through her study of Christian Science, she knew that I was always safe and well in God’s eternal care. The thousands of miles between her sunny porch and my grim outpost in Alaska could never separate me from that care.
Faith in my divine birthright as God’s child – a birthright I acknowledge for everyone – was tested often in my four years as a military journalist. But a little book my grandmother had given me, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” by Mary Baker Eddy, helped me through tough times. The Bible says, “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain” (Isa. 40:4). There were times when I felt that the crooked was indeed made straight and the rough places, plain.
How I learned to pray at 20,000 feet
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“We’re going down. Into the North Sea. Only God can save us now” These were my words as our bomber sank closer and closer to the waves and the bitter cold sea. I knelt down in the piles of hot spent shells and blood and prayed. “This was it.”When all seems lost
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By Barbara Whitewater, Published in The Christian Science Monitor on June 1, 2011
The day after Joplin, Mo., was hit by a huge tornado, I was watching a news report of the damage and of the many lives lost. I heard a man from Joplin tell the reporter that all he felt was gratitude because people were driving from hundreds of miles away to come to help. He was so moved by this outpouring of brotherly love that it made him cry. Me, too.
I am often moved to tears when all seems lost, and God is found to be right at hand, showing His uninterrupted love through every brave and generous expression of human love. Because God is Love, He never stops loving. It may not always be easy to be convinced of this when a big, bad thing happens. But it is the nature of God to give us the most help when it is most needed. All that is ever really lost is the fear that sometimes God seems like He has abandoned us. When all seems lost, God is found to be “a very present help in trouble,” as promised by the Bible (Ps. 46:1).
In 1992, I was living with my mom and son in south Florida when hurricane Andrew hit. Although our immediate neighborhood suffered minimal damage, just an hour south of us things had not gone so well. The storm turned out to be much stronger than expected.
Watching a television interview with a man whose house had been totally flattened, I got reassuring proof of God’s always present love. The man and his wife were standing in front of what used to be their house, crying. But through their tears, they expressed much gratitude that they had not been hurt. The house and its contents were just replaceable things that, now, seemed not nearly as important as their protection from injury and death.
“Ah,” I thought, “There it is.” There is the loving voice of God speaking louder than the storm. Read the entire article here.
Good Morning!
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Charlie, a new retiree greeter at Walmart, just couldn’t seem to get to work on time. Every day he was 5, 10, 15 minutes late. But he was a good worker, really tidy, clean-shaven, sharp-minded and a real credit to the company, and obviously demonstrated their “Older Person Friendly” policies.
One day Charlie’s boss called him into his office for a talk. “Charlie, I have to tell you, I like your work ethic. You do a bang-up job, but being late so often is quite bothersome.” “Yes, I know, and I’m working on it.”
“Well, good,” said the boss. “You’re a team player. That’s what I like. It’s odd, though, you coming in late. I know you’re retired from the armed forces. What did they say when you came in late?”
Charlie responded, “Usually, they said, ‘Good morning, General, can I get your coffee, sir?’”
Today, since the Word of God inspires me and is expressed in my prayers; since my Christianity is a continuation of divine momentum, then when I am confronted with temptations, I will confidently say, “be thou cast into the sea,” “get thee behind me,” or “go get my coffee.”
Keith Wommack is a Christian Science practitioner and teacher from Corpus Christie, Texas. Read his Facebook blogs here.
A Memorial to Marine Corps 2nd Battalion, 8th Regiment
By · CommentsThis video by Melissa Sonke is a tribute to Marine Corps 2nd Batallion, 8th Regiment.
“Four things support the world: the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the good, and the valor of the brave.”
A Prayer for Memorial Day
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By Bob Clark, Committee on Publication for the state of Florida
Memorial Day is the most moving of American holidays, at least for me. That may be because my father, a soldier in WWII, came back from the war in the Pacific wounded…and transformed. In his family four sons served overseas; two were in the Battle of the Bulge and two in the Pacific. All came home. Men who survive the horrors of war are grateful both for their own survival and for the sacrifices of those who don’t come home.
My father did more than survive the war. Like so many others, he was transformed by it. He was wounded by friendly fire in the South Pacific. Assumed to be damaged beyond repair by a 50 caliber machine gun bullet, he was taken to a makeshift hospital, where he was found by his younger brother. The doctors had to give up on him and moved on to other critically injured men.
My uncle didn’t give up. Instead, he read to my father from The Bible and from the religious textbook they had grown up with in the Christian Science Sunday School in South Bend, Indiana. This book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, contains this sentence, “God is Love.” More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go.” Click here to read the entire article.
A Memorial Day Prayer
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By Lindsay Taylor, published in The Christian Science Monitor on May 27, 2011
As Americans give thanks this holiday weekend for those who have given their lives in the service of their country, Memorial Day can be a reminder that the thousands of servicemen and -women presently deployed to troubled parts of the world deserve our prayers, and so do their families.
Whatever our opinion of the politics involved may be, those serving in the military represent lives dedicated to bringing greater stability to the international community. In addition to the obvious dangers that war and terrorism pose, troops can experience the loneliness of being in an unfamiliar culture and environment, which may include an inhospitable climate and terrain. One thought that has comforted me has been the knowledge that no matter where they are, these troops cannot be cut off from God’s love and care, as Christ Jesus’ example and teaching show.
Despite the hostility and isolation that he and his followers faced, even in their own country, Jesus had a confident and consistent view that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17; 10:7). Rather than being a location or a future state of affairs, this kingdom, Jesus taught, is a way of thinking from the perspective of God, whose purpose for every one of His children is always good. Through his own life, Jesus showed that heaven can be experienced wherever we are, at any time, as a state of thought. Relating his spiritual conviction to daily life, his model for prayer (the Lord’s Prayer) includes the lines “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
Trial by fire
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Constantly reliving traumatic events? Diagnosed with PTSD and no treatment is helping? You can come out of fiery trials without even a smell of smoke. This article from the Christian Science Monitor gives you an idea of how to approach healing PTSD from a spiritual standpoint. Be sure to click on the link to read the entire article.
By Katherine Stephen, Published May 18, 2011 in The Christian Science Monitor
…We can regard intense challenges – or furnace experiences – as opportunities for growth. They enable us to learn about our spiritual identity and to prove the presence of God in our lives, leading us to a clearer view of who we are as His children. “The great Master triumphed in furnace fires” wrote Mary Baker Eddy of Christ Jesus, in reference to his overcoming the ultimate challenge of the crucifixion (“Message to The Mother Church for 1902,” p. 19). In his supreme triumph of the resurrection, Jesus proved that his fiery trial had revealed his nature as Christ, the image of the Father.
Whatever trial we are confronted with, we have the opportunity, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, to worship one God of healing. We can gain more understanding of ourselves as the perfect image of God, even in the midst of intensely challenging circumstances. A hymn in the “Christian Science Hymnal” (No. 123) says:
When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flames shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.”
Why forgive?
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By Arno Preller
Excerpted from Spirituality.com and the Christian Science Sentinel
I grew up in Germany when Hitler was in power. During the war, Christian Science activities were forbidden in Germany. My dad, who was a Christian Science practitioner and active in church affairs, was thrown into jail, later to be released and forced to serve in the army. When I was ten, I had to join the Hitler Youth organization. Every young person had to. That was the law. But after my dad was put in jail, I refused to participate any longer in the meetings or have anything to do with the organization. As a result, I ended up spending the last part of the war in a forced labor camp.
During my time at the camp I had received a severe whipping for speaking out of turn. The camp doctor had predicted that the resulting scars would be there for the rest of my life. Since they were on my back, I never gave them much thought. So I was all the more surprised when I discovered one day that, after I’d found mental freedom from any lingering resentment and was able to freely forgive, those physical scars had also totally disappeared. They had been there for over 20 years.