When I was a boy, my parents raised us as fundamentalist Christians (sometimes I think Fundamentalist was capitalized too.) We were in Church every Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday evening with occasional other nights thrown in if some other acceptable Church was having service. We were a separate and peculiar people, seeking the face of God.
It wasn’t easy on us boys, being peculiar. We couldn’t be in sports that interfered with church, so if practice wasn’t over by 6:45 for us to make church by 7:00 on Wednesday, well forget about it. Sports on Sunday wasn’t even an option. We kept the Sabbath holy, and never mind you seventh-day people.
One episode stands out in memory as being particularly painful. Some “forbidden books” were being taught in English during my grade school days. Due to my parents’ belief and protest, I and a few other kids were separated from the class and sent to the library. Our precious ears couldn’t be offended by the heathen literature of Poe or Wordsworth.
As a parent now, I know it must have hurt mom and dad to cause us boys pain. I would rather cut off a finger than subject my daughters to ridicule unnecessarily, and I’m sure my parents felt the same. They did what they did on a principle that they believed in, and I learned something from that. I learned principle matters, especially when it makes you uncomfortable. I learned religion can make you do things you don’t want to do. I learned religion can divide. Mixed messages, to be sure, but that’s the way it is sometimes.
This Saturday, there is a funeral planned. A young man, a soldier, died in a foreign country doing something he probably didn’t want to do, but doing what his country asked of him. His family is proud of him. His family is grieving. This being a small town, we are all grieving. We either know him, or know his family and it hurts.
There are some people planning to attend his services who believe he died because his country, our country, is being punished by God for its sinful ways. They plan to jeer at his family and blame the community for its moral failure. There’s about a hundred of them. Most people believe they are complete nut cases, and that may be. There are counter protests planned and many people pray the hateful group stays home. I am thankful they are coming.
I am thankful because, without these people protesting, we would have grieved alone. The young man, the soldier, would have otherwise had a small private service and his family would have suffered at a distance. I am thankful because we, our little community in the fly-over states, gets to stand with them and wrap our collective arms around them and say with a unified voice, “We are proud of your boy. Proud, Thankful and above all else, Honored by his service.”
The same may be said for all our servicemen and women. But on this day, in this small community, we say it for the young man, the soldier, SPC David Hess, may he forever rest in peace with the thanks of a grateful nation, state and town. His stand on principle enables mine.
“No man has a greater love than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” John15:13
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6 comments:
Well written, Mr. Chapman. You have the ability to say what most think but don't know how.
I know what I feel about this but I cannot seem to put the words on the screen in a way which conveys my meaning properly. But I'll try.
I am sad at the loss of a soldier. I am sad for his family and friends. I am equally sad at those who cannot put aside strife for a moment and realize, yes he was a soldier and yes you might not 'support' the military BUT he was a son, brother, uncle, friend, neighbor, co-worker... he was a man and he lived a life, a life given to him by God.
I can't say I am glad there will be protesters but you are right, I would have never known who SPC David Hess was, now I do and I can add my heart to the numbers who mourn his loss.
Lori, thanks. Your opinion means the world to me.
Chickee, Thanks so much for your comments and condolensces. I think God uses what men may intend for evil to work His good will. There is likely to be over a thousand people along the funeral route in support of this family. That would never have happened without these misguided protesters. It has bolstered the sense of community here and hopefully will help the Hess family begin the process of healing.
In your response to Chickee you paraphrased the words of Joseph in the bible, when he was speaking to his brothers who sold him into slavery, then later came to him for help in a time of famine.
What Joseph's brothers intended for evil, God intended for good. Joseph's family would survive the famine because he was in a position, as a direct result of having been sold into slavery, to feed them.
I like your perspective, Jesse. We can always find reasons to feel thankful if our eyes are open and we're looking. If we're looking for negative then that's what we'll see.
God bless the family you speak of. My heart aches for them, for their loss, even as I share their pride in their son, SPC David Hess.
Thanks for commenting, Kate. The funeral was this morning and I don't know if the protesters showed up or not. There were far too many people along the route to see, far more people than expected. The service was at 1100, but people started lining the street at 830. I don't know what the final estimate will be, but I imagine it will be over 1000. Parkersburg isn't a big place, maybe 30,000 people so that's a very big number showing respect and honoring our fallen.
I'd like to add something clever and poignant here, but my heart just aches too much for this family.
I am proud of their son, proud of the way they are handling this, proud of how my town has come together, but mostly sad for the loss of a good man.
As a follow-up comment,I spoke with a friend who works with large crowds. Although there were no official estimates from the local paper, he puts the total between 5 and 7 thousand people along the route, with over 250 motorcyclist as part of or joining the Freedom Guard Riders. Simply amazing for a town this size.
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