How could we adequately thank our veterans for their service? Certainly by hearing their stories. The late Leland R. Stevens was a military chaplain from 1953 to 1973. He recounted the day-to-day realities of the military and their families who sacrifice for us.
“I remember the young wife who called me one evening, obviously homesick for her native England—and disappointed in her marriage. I arranged to meet her at the chapel. It was the first of many marital counseling sessions I took part in during those 20 years…. Their marriage was ultimately healed.
“I was asked to address a choir contest put on by black—then called Negro—churches. That Sunday afternoon, as lively Gospel tunes laced the worship, I learned that the Gospel message dare not always be proclaimed in stuffy tones and phrases.
“During those 20 years, my conviction that God’s Word is always as swift and powerful as a two-edged sword continued to develop. Its proclamation is never thwarted by the situation. With that conviction, I proclaimed hi Word at a makeshift altar-bar with a backdrop of pinup girls on the wall—where I had the undivided attention of a dozen or so coast guardsmen in a remote LORAN station in Japan.
“Most of all, I remember my tragically frequent visits with air force wives to whom I had to announce tersely but tenderly the deaths of their pilot husbands. Afterward, I sat quietly and consoled them as best I could: with God’s love. One young wife lamented, ‘How can I live without him?’ Another wife commented on subsequent visits with her, ‘I’ll never forget your eyes as you told me my husband was dead.’ She saw my tears…but also with the certain hope that in Christ we are strengthened to bear all things. I remember little children and their reactions as they learned that Daddy was dead. I remember the little boy who turned to his younger sister (I had baptized both at an earlier assignment) and said, ‘Daddy’s with Jesus.’ Enough said!”
How could we adequately thank our veterans for their service? How thank their families? Silence is also a way, being quiet when you receive love. For all the weapons, military service is their selfless love to us. Our duty is to return love, our own selfless service to others in whatever place the Lord has us. (“They Shall Not March Alone,” 208-210)
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