Be More Understanding

Well, I planned on cobbling together some thoughts on that old saying "Time Heals all Wounds" when, during a 'cogitation break' (i.e. snack) I opened my inbox and found the monthly newsletter from Task Force Saber, the organization my son Ben is currently deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan with.

Anyway, as I was reading through the various sections for each Troop I came across the page for "Dirty Troop" or "D" Troop. The first thing that caught my eye was the corny joke at the top of the page:

"What do you call a pig that knows karate?"

(wait for it)

"A Pork Chop."

However, in the very first paragraph it took a more somber tone as the First Sergeant wrote, "As you may have heard, I lost my grandmother in the month of May. Her death made me start thinking about the issues that my Soldiers are having while deployed."

The First Sergeant went on to remind soldiers and their families that "[the] small, petty things should not be as bad as we make them out to be because at the end of the day, all you have is your family."  He went on to remind the soldiers who are deployed as well as their families back home that each of them is "doing the best they can in a difficult situation."

Life is difficult, isn't it? More for some than others, but at one point or another life gets hard for all of us.

That comment he made about only having our family at the end of the day is true, isn't it. Or, is it? While acknowledging the basic truth of that thought, it struck me that for it to be true requires at least the semblance of a functional "family" doesn't it?  I found myself thinking about all those "dysfunctional" situations: the widow(er) and the orphan, the homeless, prisoners, and children who have been given up on by their parents, to name just a few.

As Christians we are called to have an expansive view of "family" aren't we?  We are told what to do in the parable of the Good Samaritan. We hear Jesus himself telling us to feed his sheep. We should become the family for those who have no other.

At the very least we ought to love one another and be kind to each other. The First Sergeant wrote, "the task I have for everyone is to be more understanding."  And he concluded by saying, "A wise man once told me that people forget what you said. People forget what you did. But no one ever forgets how you made them feel."

Amen, First Sergeant Benning!

Let us all "be more understanding" of one another.