AN OLD SOLDIERS SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE

Human-interest Article Submitted to

The Outlook, Standard Publishing 8121 Hamilton Avenue Cincinnati OH 45231

Robert A. Sickler 15300 State Route T Newburg, Missouri 65550 Phone: 573-364-8570 573-762-3239

SSN: 207-36-2486 Word Count: 1,794 Rights: First rights

AN OLD SOLDIERS SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE

Many years have past, but the old man still distinctly remembers a time when as a young soldier he was brought awake by alarms sounding far off in the distance. At least it seemed that way at first. Then as he began to awake from a fatigue induced stupor; he came to realize that the sound, the alarm sound, was coming from a GI wristwatch. The government issued watch, whose sound was muffled from the rest of the world by a folded up towel, was held to his head by a green triangular swath of cloth. The towel, which most wore slung over the back of their neck, was used to wipe sweat out of eyes, when folded up it became a pillow, and in the highlands it staved off the chill of the night. The sweat and soil stained triangular bandage had been taken out of a first aid pouch. Now fully awake, the soldier slowly reached his left hand under the folded up towel and shut off the watch.

Lord God above he was tired. They had been running from the enemy since yesterday mornings insertion, which was to start a three-man reconnaissance mission deep within enemy territory. In the pre-mission briefing, intelligence had pointed to a light brown spot on the French map lying on the table before them and assured the team that this would make a suitable LZ (landing zone). Now, as the chopper they were riding swept over the treetops and the LZ came into view, the soldier realized that things were starting out bad. Intelligences LZ was nothing more than where a rockslide had opened up the jungle along a steep slope. Man, just getting safely down into that rock pile was going to be a challenge. It was obvious that intelligence had not bothered to do a flyby recon, and instead had made the assumption that the old French map was right. But, as the soldier knew from first hand experience they almost never were.

The overall plan had been for numerous slicks (helicopters) to make insertions over a wide area surrounding their mission target. Only one insertion would leave friendlies behind the slick the soldiers team was on. Actually the insertion went off like clockwork. They had a great chopper pilot who had enough skill, and guts, to put the chopper within inches of the steeply sloping hillside. It was a superb piece of work and the soldiers team reached the tree line without incident. But, as the sounds of the chopper began to fade they heard a new sound that raised the hairs on the back of their necks. The sound was that of a bamboo gong. Judas priest, intelligence had landed them right outside the front gate of their target. They had been on the run every since that moment, and as the soldier lay there waking up from a 90 minute sleep he wondered if he could possibly go on.

Every mussel in his body screamed in pain as he moved to wake up the other two member of the team. He felt awful! As his mussels slowly loosened up, his mind began running through a checklist of things to do before they left the shelter of the dense jungle thicket. At the top of the list was a weapons check, and then take care of the fact that they all needed food, water, and medication. The thicket, and the darkness, had been their protection for the past two hours, and it would continue to shield them as they eat, drank, and prepared to move out.

Food came from an energy bar that was packed with carbohydrates and other nutrients required by the human body. It tasted like chocolate do-do but had the power of a four-course meal. Water came from canteens and it tasted like iodine. They had run out of the water that they had brought with them, so now they were forced to drink jungle water laced with purification tablets. They

were all suffering from cuts, bruises, minor wounds, and they were being eaten alive by ticks, leaches, and other jungle floor vermin. Thus, their medication contained massive doses of antibiotics. They were also suffering from a dire lack of sleep so the second course of drugs was eye openers. The medication did little, however, to ease the pain of worn out mussels and torn flesh.

It may have taken pills to keep the soldiers awake, but it was grit and discipline that kept them running. Today, as a Christian, the old man looks back at his past life as a soldier and fully understand why Paul used the discipline of a soldering to teach about Christian discipline. But, as they crawled out of the thicket, that day so long ago, Christ was not on the soldiers mind. All he knew was that they were men energized by the forces of fear and that they were still lethal to the enemy because of discipline. The soldier also knew that to stop running was sure death and they had proven to themselves that you could not remain hidden from the enemy for very long. Another reason they could keep going was the fact that they were prepared to push themselves beyond the normal. In many past training exercises they had endured, to a lesser degree, fatigue and pain similar to that which they were now experiencing. Yes, it took drugs to fight infection and drugs to keep them awake, but it was past training and self discipline that made them willing to keep on fighting.

The skill and discipline that made the team so effective in the jungle did not just happen. The soldiers unconventional fighting unit was not made up of men born to be warriors. It was training, never ending training, and tons of discipline that welded them into a very effective fighting team. When they were not in the jungle they trained to fight, and when in the jungle they fought to live.

The civilian boys, who came together on the battlefield, had been transformed into warriors who now possessed mental and physical attributes that were a universe removed from their previous lives.

Some times today, when it comes to his Christian training and discipline, the old man kind of reminds himself of being like a civilian as compared to a soldier. When this happens, he is almost too ashamed to approach God in prayer. When he looks at himself, and compares his spiritual conditioning to that of the apostles, his soul aches from the knowledge of his unfitness. As good soldiers, they had always pushed themselves in training and in responding instinctively to orders. They all knew that tomorrow they must face death and that each man alone was responsible for his body and mind being faster and more lethal than the enemies. The old man was saddened by the thought that as a soldier his fear of the enemy had driven him to excel in training and selfdiscipline, but now as a Christian his training and discipline fall far short of what it should be.

As images of the past are replaced by thoughts of today, the old man deepens his focus on the enemy that now threatens his life and the life of everyone in his Christian family. The old man knows that today he still faces death at every moment of his life, but no matter how hard he tries he just cannot seem to really fear the roaring lion that now seeks to destroy him. The problem with todays enemy is that he does not roar like a lion. So, how do you open your eyes to an enemy you cannot see? How do you explain the reality of todays spiritual battlefield? How do you alert yourself and other people to the existence of an enemy who kills but you cannot see fallen comrades? Like most Christians, the old man knows that the enemy is real, but he finds it very hard to see Satan as a real threat.

Like most Christians, the old man has chosen to ignore the presence of Satan for so long that it is now difficult to see Satan standing right beside him. The old man knows, however, that just because we will not admit that Satan is out there does not do away with the fact that Satan brings with him the certainty of death and the reality of hell. As the old mans mind races with thoughts of todays spiritual battlefield, desperation builds within him. He and all his Christian family must learn to embrace the fear of spiritual failure. They must wake up to the reality that the enemy is right there beside them seeking to destroy their walk with Christ. They must face the fact that the enemy ultimately wants to see their souls writhing in the flames of hell. Our spiritual enemy is real and the death that he threatens us with is real. It is right for us to fear the enemy. But, not with a fear that paralyzes us. It must be a fear that motivates us to discipline ourselves and to train to become strong Christians. We must embrace this fear, and through the power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ turn our knowledge of the roaring lion into a weapon, which we can successfully use against him.

Like soldiers, all Christians need to have a controlled fear of what can happen if they are not properly trained, in top-notch condition, and truly disciplined. If we look about us we will see that we are on a battlefield, which is littered with spiritually wounded and spiritually dead comrades. Our enemy is not in some distant jungle or across a manmade line-of-departure. There is no rear area where we can let down our guard and relax. The enemy is amongst us! He is silent! His attacks are covert, and most of them go unnoticed by those unskilled in spiritual warfare. Yet, the evidence of his presence is over whelming. Look at how Jesus has been driven out of our schools, out of local governments, and out of main stream American life. Just look at the spiritual

abomination that has replaced the standards of Jesus in community events, in entertainment, in sports, and even in the local church. We are in a spiritual war, which we are loosing, and the evidence is not found in church membership statistics. It is found in spiritually dead congregations. The old man is right! As a Christian nation, we are loosing the war because we have lost our fear of the battlefield, and thus we have lost the discipline to be true spiritual soldiers.