Praying Together

   We pray together a lot here.

   And in those quiet moments I’ve come to realize something about myself. More than ever before in my life, I believe that doing good works in the service of others is the noblest cause. Soldiering is one profession that exemplifies this concept well. Someone once said, “Military officers are professionals in the art of controlling chaos and violence.” And I think this is true to an extent. But we are also expert at leading people in the service of others. Armies do not go to war simply because the soldiers opt to. They go to war because the leaders of a country, who were elected by the people, decide that war is necessary and unavoidable.

   In this same light, there have been some tragedies in the world of late, which sadden me deeply. Recently in Iraq, a few thousand people were walking across a bridge near

Baghdad in a religious procession. Someone yelled “suicide bomber,” or there was somehow brought upon them the fear of a suicide bomber, and a stampede broke out. People were crushed, and the railings on the bridge broke, causing people to fall into the water. Over 800 people, mostly women and children, perished. How sad a thing to occur. What a sordid state of affairs, and what a tangled web we weave.

   My interest in and consideration of the world at this moment leads me next to the recent disaster in

New Orleans. I spent the first 20 years of my life in that city. Once I joined the Army, except for a few sparse periods of time, I have never desired to call it my home again. But I have family there, and many people that I care about deeply. I also have many memories which come rushing back on me as I watch the flood waters on the news.

  This is a somber note tonight, my friends, but I feel a bit frustrated and helpless lately. I know that my immediate family is okay, but there are countless extended family members and friends who I can only pray escaped harm. My parents do not know if their car, their truck, their home, or their possessions are still where they left them.

      I am not a religious man, in the sense that I have one religion I can call my own. I was raised Catholic, but in my teenage years I developed some theological problems with the religion as a whole. Having said this, I pray often, and know that there is a God, and that I live an inspired life.

   Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, Mormon, Presbyterian, Jewish, Baptist, Wiccan. I say, hey, whatever gets you through the night, because I believe that in the end we are or own judges, and we have to deal with the things we did, or failed to do. I have an extensive library back home, and on the shelves of that library reside almost every Bible. I have spent time reading through those books over the years. I find them all compelling. I simply cannot pick just one.

   Merriam-Webster’s definition of “eclectic” is:

      1 : selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles
      2 : composed of elements drawn from various sources

   This is the way I have approached my religion. I follow my heart and my instinct, which I believe are the parts of me that are closest to God. I have fundamental and categorical problems with certain parts of some religions, while other teachings of that same faith really hit home and touch me as truth.

   I still have my original dog tags from 1992, and they list my name, social security number, blood type, and religious preference. Some people put “no preference.” In my case, that would be inaccurate. If anything, I have too many preferences. So my dog tags say “eclectic.” I’ll admit that when I first did it, I was 20 years old and thought I was kind of turning my nose up at authority for daring to be different. Eclectic was not really a choice, but I told them anyway, and they made the dog tags.

   Over the years I’ve forgotten about it. One does not look at their dog tags every day and read them. But I like them very much now, because instead of a religion I basically have an adjective on my dog tags. And it’s an adjective that describes my musical tastes, my religious beliefs, my choice of books, and my life. I’ve traveled a lot in my 33 years. I’ve lived a lot of places, and I’ve known many people whose faces I don’t easily forget.

      As I’ve said, I am not a religious man. But I still like the fact that I am here in

Iraq with this unit, and that we pray together often. We pray at every meeting, and before a mission. Prayer means many different things to people, but at the core it is a gathering of will, a summoning of the spirit towards a higher power, for help, for guidance, for support, for strength.

  Do me a favor, will you? Regardless of your religion, or lack thereof, pray for the people of

Iraq, and that we can soften the hearts of the insurgents. Pray for the people of

New Orleans. And pray for us too, as we are always praying for you.

"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser."

John Gardner

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