One important thing we can do for our military

I was walking through Staples and saw a display of “Easy Buttons” — you know, the ones that when one pushes it, one immediately has everything they need at their fingertips.   I began to think it would be wonderful if that really did happen.  Our every need would be met with a push of a button. 

With Veterans Day here, just think of it, our service men and women would remain safe wherever they are and would return home unscarred (both physically and mentally) from the military experience.  They would easily reclaim their place with their families and in their communities. 

Army Chief of Chaplains Douglas Carver says the transition from battlefield to home and community is “one of the hardest things for a veteran to do.” 

“They’ve had battle buddies in Afghanistan and Iraq, and they come back to their communities almost as a stranger,” Carver continues.  

This spurred me on to ask not only, how can we help our troops remain safe, but how can we help ease the transition when they return home?  This led me to a tried and true friend – prayer.  Everyone, man woman and child, has the ability to pray.   The ability to pray is closer than the push of a button.  

Time and again, we hear stories from our military personnel where they have prayed in a time of crisis and their prayers were immediately answered.  They relate how their prayers saved not only their own lives but also the lives of their fellow soldiers. (1)

At the website www.realwarriors.net, I found an article, Boosting Resilience Through Spirituality, which reiterates the benefits of spiritual fitness.  “Spirituality can help you feel connected to something bigger than yourself and build resilience at the same time. … Whether expressed through prayer, meditation or in other ways, being spiritually ‘fit’ is important to building resilience.” 

It continues, “At the heart of it, spirituality can help people find meaning in life.  During difficult times at all stages of military experience, spirituality can help you cope with difficult situations and traumatic events.”

In an article titled, Prayer for Country and Church, Mary Baker Eddy, a Christian theologian who’s life spanned the Civil War and many others in which the US was involved in the latter 1800’s and early 1900’s encouraged those who followed her teachings (then and now) to “remember our brave soldiers, whether in camp or in battle.  Oh, may their love of country, and their faithful service thereof, be unto them life-preservers!” (2)

A story shared in a biography of Eddy recounts that during the civil war she had given a young man going to battle a Bible with certain verses marked and asked that he read them every day.  Her last remark to him was, “This will save your life.”

When he returned, he visited her and pulled out the Bible she had given him.  It had saved him – literally - there was a bullet hole in it from a bullet shot at him but stopped by the little book which he carried in his breast pocket. 

Today, each of us can pray daily for the men and women who serve our country. I’ve included it in my daily devotions for years.  I pray they be kept out of harm’s way and not suffer from the after affects of being on the front line.  I pray they return home safe with their families and into their communities where they are welcomed with open arms. This is how I daily push the “God” button for our service men and women. Won’t you join me? 

1. See Jan 11, 1947, Christian Science Sentinel, Testimony by Curtis Foster, July 10, 1954, Christian Science Sentinel, Way to Unfailing Protection, by Howard L. Cheney, December 1999, Christian Science Journal, God’s Protection in Wartime, by Donald Ray Dull

2. Christian Science versus Pantheism, page 14, by Mary Baker Eddy

Kate, a resident of Westminster, is interested in blogging about health, spirituality, science, religion, the importance of prayer in maintaining a healthy mind and body.  She is a Christian Science practitioner and the media, legislative and public contact for Christian Science in the state of Maryland.