Violence Begets Violence Sevenfold

Today's sermon is posted on the new St. Peter's Episcopal Church blog.  Click here to go there now.

Enjoy!

Land Nav in the Black of Night

I thought I would write about one of my adventures from O.C.S., (Officer's

Commissioning Ceremony ...becoming a 2LT, a long time ago!

Candidate School).

Now, to be sure, OCS was not at all pleasant.  In fact, even though it has been two and a half decades ago, I still wince thinking about it, have bad memories & post traumatic stress from this life experience!  Really!

Why I ever subjected myself to such emotional and physical abuse, I do not know, except that I really wanted to be an officer.   

And once I started OCS, I soon found that there was no turning back.  For if I quit, I would have to carry that the rest of my life.  And so, I endured it.

Over forty five "officer candidates" started out in our class, which included four women.  Most of us were in our mid to late twenties.  It was the Army National Guard, and OCS was fourteen months in length, and it was brutal.  Only eight of us made it to graduation and commissioning as a 2LT (second lieutenant). 

The first two weeks they took us all to Ft. Huachuca in southern Arizona.  As part of the training, we were taught "Land Nav"  (land navigation, also called orienteering).

Lots of walking & hiking out in the hills, being in nature, reading a map, using a compass, and finding your way from point A to point B.  These were the days well before GPS.  All map and compass and your own skills!

At first they taught us in small groups, then in pairs, and then we had to go it alone.  Actually, I really enjoyed land nav!

That is until when I was all alone out there and saw the largest, fattest rattle snake slithering under a bush about ten feet in front of me!  

Ugh!

It also became more and more challenging as the days went by, as we got only about 4 hours of sleep a night.  And throughout the days, we had so much physical activity, including morning PT, which usually was a 3 to 6 miles run.  And need I mention the "stress" they put us through with lots of mind games, in your face yelling, push ups, etc.

When you get very little sleep, it really affects your cognitive abilities.  It also affects your emotions.  But that's what they were trying to do, weed out the ones who could not stand up to all the "stress".

And then, test day came.  There were actually two Land Nav tests, one for the day, and one for the night.  And they had to be done alone.

They took us up to a desert area somewhere near Florence, AZ in helicopters. A dry desert area that was extremely hot, as it was July.  Much hotter than down at Ft. Huachuca.

Most of us passed the day Land Nav test with no problem.  With exception that it was extremely hot.  And running through the desert with all that military gear on (helmet, web gear, etc.) was even more difficult.

But night time was another story.  It was dark with no moon.  And going out there where there were snakes, javalinas and other "scary things" made it even more intense!  We really had to overcome our fears.

We were given our coordinates, and had a certain amount of time to plot our courses & on the maps & run to our five points.  Once at the point, we had write down the code or letter on the post.  Then run to the next post.

Amazingly, I was able to find my first four points without much problem.

But then, I came to may fifth and last post.  Upon arriving, there were two posts.  One was about 50 feet to the west of the other.

Which one was mine?

If I wrote the wrong one down, I would fail the lang nav test and be washed out of OCS.

No pressure here!

So, which one?   I knelt down looking at both posts.  Sweat was rolling down my face and onto the map.  The left, or the one to the right?

I looked at the map.  I noticed that "my post" had a small dirt road just to the east of it.  Now to see which one had a small dirt road.

I walked to each one.  It was black as the darkest night, so I literally could not see more than a few feet in front of me! 

On the way, I suddenly was walking on something very "smooshy".  I looked down, and I was walking on a bunch of tires lying there.  I nearly fell on my face.

I walked to the east of each one.  The first one, no dirt road.  I walked to the other post.  Then to the east.  There was a very faint dirt road!

I wrote the code for that one down on my test sheet!

I looked at my watch.  I had fifteen minutes to get back to camp, the finish line, or I would fail!

I ran all the way back through the dark desert!

I made to the finish line just in time, sweating like mad.

The test grader graded my test.  I waited.

Did I have all five points correct?  Would I pass?  Did I get that last post correct?

I passed!

What a relief!

Unfortunately, many candidates did not pass, and we lost just about half of the class that day.  

But passing Land Nav was only the beginning of getting through OCS.  For there was another 12 months to go...


  

The Way of a Pilgrim...

Good morning everyone!   It is good to be back home!  That was a long drive to the SF Bay Area and back!   But not as long as the drive to Minnesota that I know many of you will be making very soon!

In our gospel reading for today, in John, we heard a portion of what is known as The Farewell Discourse.  Jesus is talking to his disciples, and the words of Jesus are not very inspiring.  he says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

Hmmm.   We have all known people who talk as though their love for us was conditional. "If you loved me, you would (dot, dot, dot, fill in the blank)”. 

 

What are we to think?  This seems totally opposite from the unconditional love Jesus teaches and lives!   

However, rather than assuming that Jesus requires a “militaristic” (I just had to use that term “militaristic”, as I just came back from military duty!)   …. militaristic obedience with conditional love, what were Jesus’ commandments?

“A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you".   And the other, ‘love your neighbor as yourself”.  

It's not complicated!

LOVE!   It’s not complicated!   

That commercial "it's not complicated" pops in my mind here.  You know, where the guy is talking with some kindergarten aged children, he asks them a question and getting all sorts of wild answers from them and says,  "It’s not complicated!"

OK, so it really can be & is complicated...and challenging!  For so many of us!  

One thing for sure, to really live and walk in love take lots and lots & lots of practice.  Years.  A lifetime.  We just can’t take an on line class in this or learn it from reading a book.  It takes doing it, practicing it, living it….until hopefully, it becomes us.

Some days we do pretty good, other days, well not so much.   

Think of your past week, how did you do?    Hmm.  Perhaps we held our temper as someone was rude to us.  Perhaps we did not.

One thing for sure, we will get many opportunities in life to practice living and walking in love! 

Me playing bass, back in the '90s

I thought about bringing my bass guitar in to show you.   I actually have four of them.  So many years of playing bass in bands over the years.  I had long hair back then.   Those were fun times paying music all those years!

For those of you that have ever learned or tried to learn to play a musical instrument, you know it takes lots & lots of PRACTICE.  That first year or two is very trying.   I remember when I was 17 years old, first learning the bass, practicing in my room, so many times I would get frustrated, and throw the bass on my bed and need to walk away for awhile.    Ugh!

The book and story of The Way of a Pilgrim also comes to mind.   Have you ever read it?

The story takes place in Russia in the late 1800ds.  A Russian man (a pilgrim) 

seeks to deepen his spirituality and get closer to God after he hears the words of scripture in the liturgy “to pray without ceasing”.

After wandering to many towns, churches and monasteries, he eventually finds a Starets, a Spiritual Director, who teaches him the Jesus Prayer, (AKA Breath Prayer).  This is what the Startets taught him:

Be alone in silence.  Calm yourself and your mind.  Invite the Holy Spirit to be with you.

Breathe gently, deeply and slowly.  Imagine yourself looking into your own heart.  Carry your mind, that is your thoughts, from your head to your heart. 

As you breathe in, say to yourself “Lord Jesus Christ”.  And as your breathe out, say to yourself  “have mercy on me…a sinner”.  Try to put all other thoughts aside.  Be calm, patient and repeat.

The Starets told the pilgrim to repeat this prayer 3000 times per day!

How many breaths do we breathe in a minute?  Imagine, as we tend to breathe 8 to 14 breaths per minute, how long this actually took!  It would take at least 4 hours of his day!

And so he practiced and practiced, breathing and

praying as he walked and traveled from town to town.   

At first this takes great concentration and labor to do this consciously as he walks & travels.   But he keeps at it.

Months later, when he visits the Starets again, he tells the pilgrim to increase the prayer to 6000 times per day! 

The pilgrim consciously does this in earnest.  Months go by, with many more travels. 

And again when he visits the Starets, he tells him to increase the prayer to 12,000 times per day!  

You do the math here.  It is pretty much the entire waking day!

Small Russian Church

In time, what was once laborious actually becomes the pilgrim.  He transfers from doing this prayer consciously to subconsciously, feeling /thinking of God with every breath he takes!

Of course, this process does not happen overnight, it takes many years and many travels.  But over time, it is he, the pilgrim that becomes a man of deep spirituality.

Have you ever met someone like this?  Their inner peace and spiritual wisdom radiates from them and their very being.   Oh how we wish we could have such peace & wisdom!

And here we are, this Memorial Day weekend, the traditional beginning of summer. 

For so many who have served in the military, have loved ones in the military, and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, we pause to remember…and give thanks. 

And upon perusing the Internet, I saw that our Commander in Chief has issued a proclamation for tomorrow.  He proclaims that tomorrow, Memorial Day be a day of prayer for permanent peace.   He asks everyone to pray for peace tomorrow at 11 am. 

And so, we pray for peace …in our world, in our nation, in our community here in Casa Grande, in our church community here at St. Peter’s….and within our hearts.  

Seems like an impossible thing, to really have peace on the entire earth. 

How can we ever have peace of earth?   It begins with us.  Right here in our hearts….in every step and breath we take.

Let us pray…

Almighty God, kindle, we beseech thee, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with thy wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that in tranquility thy dominion may increase till the earth is filled with the knowledge of thy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

___

[This was a sermon given at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Casa Grande, AZ, Sunday MAY 25th, Sixth Sunday of Easter.]