YOU ARE NOT ALONE

I heard this poem at our Veteran’s Day program this year. It was reprinted in our local paper.

It Is The Soldier

It is the Soldier, not the minister

Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer

Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer

Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician

Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,

Who serves beneath the flag,

And whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

--Charles Michael Province, U.S. Army

As a minister who prays regularly for our military and who is part of a group that reaches out to military families and their friends, I was saddened by this poem. The author seems so lonely...by which I mean, all alone. He sets himself and his fellow soldiers as islands without support or community. He creates a world of Us vs. Them, in a world that I believe needs a whole lot more WE. 

I wonder if  all our military feel so alone? I hope not. I hope that they realize that there are, scattered all around them, people who care a great deal about who they are, what they are doing, and what they have been through. Sometimes we don’t have the words or means to express that in just the right way...but we really do care. I don’t mean “just ministers” care...I mean that I hear throughout our community a great outpouring of concern for our military and their families. Folks just don’t always know what to do.

We recently held a workshop on that topic at our church. The workshop was called: The Spiritual Journey Home from War. It was sponsored by the Brookfield Institute. We had a nice cross section of people attend. 

One of the big things the veterans who were present told us we could do to be supportive was: to “be sincere in your gratitude.” They were not interested in tossed off cliches or political platitudes. The warriors who joined us said that what they really appreciated was knowing that their service was appreciated. Was acknowledged as being difficult. Was witnessed as something that meant something to those of us who were back here, on the home front. The people we met confessed that they did not fully understand all that they were called to do, but it was somehow reassuring to have it acknowledged as having happened. That it was not forgotten.

I have written a response to the poem that was read at this year’s Veteran’s Day program. I use the same title as the original author, because quite frankly, it IS the soldier who is our focal point. It IS the soldier who we gather around and seek to support and owe so much of our lives to...BUT...those soldiers are not alone. They do not operate in a vacuum. I hope that my poem will let them know, that they operate in a world that loves them; in a nation that does care about their well being; in all of the mixed up ways that we express that, including prayers for peace.

IT IS THE SOLDIER

It is the minister, who offers care to the families of the soldier who is at war; 

 who prays for the soldier’s well being while they are away and welcomes the soldier home and offers hope and healing for the wounds that have been accrued while serving the nation.

It is the reporter who records the perils faced in the field.

Who holds the cause being fought for to the light,

in black and white and gray,

so that we do not forget

the powder and sand smudged faces of those making sacrifices on our behalf.

It is the campus organizer who gathers voices in protest against squandering the lives and talents of our armed forces; who cries out for better services when they come home and who reminds us of the ideals our military are fighting for.

It is the politician who must weigh the cost of each soldier’s life lost...or injured...or otherwise forgotten at war by a public that is easily distracted by personal need.

It is the nation, putting our hands to our hearts as we see a flag and remembering with quiet awe

the sacrifices that have been made by our military to protect and preserve

the freedoms that flag represents.

It is the tears of those who mourn our fallen,

cradled in their coffins,

beneath carefully creased blankets of stars and stripes.

It is the great paradox of those whose passions are great,

living together,

soldier and civilian,

in community, 

supporting one another,

that allows us to be one nation, under God.

--Rev. Todd Farnsworth, minister