What is 104?
"Fear not," then said the Angel,-- O Tidings of Comfort and Joy vs 4
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Angels from the realm of glory -- here is a great feel good story for Christmas. I was thinking as I read this story, it would be a good response to some advertisements I've seen on metro busses in the DC area asking why would any one believe in God sponsored by some group of so called progressives that are against religious faith. Hmm... I'm glad God continues to believe in what He is doing on our behalf even when His own children won't acknowledge His grace and glory.
When I drove down to Alabama I made a stop to take some pictures on Roan Mountain Tennessee. At the foot of the trail that ascended the peak from where this photo was taken from, I met a family resting having just hiked that section of the Appalachian trail. There was a tall middle aged bearded man, very thin, almost gaunt with what looked to be years of experience already lining his face. With him was a young boy, maybe eight years old looking quiet tired and solemn. His wife was somewhat more rounded out with long brown hair. All were dressed in well worn trail clothing with several layers as it was quiet chilly that day. I stopped to speak with him. He had quite a story to tell.
0700 tomorrow - one last walk for SOS - this time across the stage for graduation. Then a long drive to Mom's for some celebration! She is cancer free! Saturday I should be back home with my wife and kids.
Whew! It has been a busy last six weeks. Climbing over Project X obstacles, writing papers, doing briefings, and taking the hardest test I have ever taken in my entire academic career but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Had one major bump in the road. Got injured but after some good medication from the doc here and some rest on the physical side of things I am on the mend and think I'll be back up enough to resume my duties at Arlington without any hitch, but I probably won't be running for a few weeks yet.
Up at the crack of dawn or before -- to bed way after sunset. That is part of what SOS is about. But it is way more than hard work or long hours.
Once again I'm the "old man". When I went through boot camp in the Navy, I was the old man at 24. At COT I was the old man turning 40 while I was there. And now at SOS I am the old man in the class at 43. So not bad for an old man. Today we had a physical fitness eval to make sure we can do the physical evolutions of the training. Ran my mile and a half in 11.23 and had 60 situps and 50 push ups in my minute time frame for each. I've slowed down a bit since my navy days when I could run between 9.45 and 10.15 (I have had one 10.23 since coming on active duty a couple of years ago).
Trust the path.
Check out this video of an Air Force strike against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Saturday I had the privilege of assisting with the laying of a wreath in memory of the 90th Bomb Group, the Jolly Rogers, at the grave site of its former commander at Arlington. I truly enjoy the opportunities to visit with and talk to these incredible veterans of World War II, though in many cases it is the widow who comes as their husband has passed. It is humbling to think that too soon the last veterans of the great conflict that ushered America truly onto the world stage will have passed away and only memory and legacy shall remain. But that is true of us all.
As a philosophy major one quickly learns that there is a major difference between truth, meaning, and opinion. One learns how people's opinions can be shaped and molded by the information provided and the amount of information provided. If one says the same thing enough times, for instance, people start to believe it. So my philosophical radar popped up this morning as I read a story concerning the number of reporters in Iraq now that the situation is improving militarily and economically. It would appear that good news just is not something that news outlets want to report on as much as blood guts and dire news. (Hmmm... wonder how that trend is impacting the economic markets today too. Is it really as bad as it is or could the approach be making what is a bad situation look like a disaster?)
Today is the day our nation sets aside to remember those who are still Missing in Action and possibly Prisoners of War. I had the distinct honor today of providing the invocation for the remembrance ceremony at the Air Force Memorial here in Washington DC this morning. I was touched by the comments of one of the key speakers who shared her story of her father who was missing in Vietnam for over 20 years before the family finally found out what happened to him and the recovery of his remains. I was also touched by conversations with family members whose loved ones still are missing.
Here is my invocation:Almighty God, our heavenly Father we approach your throne of grace to beseech your presence with us today as we remember those who have been or currently remain Prisoners of War or Missing in Action in service to our nation.
We give you thanks for those who have returned home alive and been reunited with their families.
I was out on the Appalachian Trail for a couple of days. I had planned to do an entire week with a buddy who was through hiking and hitting this section, but had a little incident with a bear and a bit of a tumble down the trail as I sought to gain some distance with the result that my pack strap removed a layer of skin from my left shoulder... but such is life. When I looked up the bear was gone. I figure he must have thought something bigger than him got me when I slipped. Was still a good time though. I can say though, the bear population of the Shenandoah National Park is in good shape. I saw my first one in a tree not 15 minutes into the hike. By the end of the first day I found 6 total, everyone of them perched in a tree. The one on the second day was perched right in the middle of the path I was following.
Here is a typical view from elevation atop one of the smaller mountains one has to climb on the trail.
This is a view from the first day out. The trail goes down the side of the slope I"m standing on, crosses the parkway in the distance, up that climb, down into the valley and up the mountain in the far distance following the top of the mountain down the crest for about six miles to a park wayside store (where incidentally I stopped my hike after my shoulder wound opened up on me.)
View from the top of Hogback Mountain looking west into the Shenandoah valley.
The trail in this section is in very good condition - easy to follow and well signed and blazed. This section was quite peaceful with the ferns growing.
The Appalachian Trail itself comes close to Skyline Parkway in a number of locations. Unfortunate if you seek to be away from all signs of civilization. Good though, if you need to seek an alternate route around a particularly stubborn bear.
Here beneath these sloping fields of Arlington National Cemetery, fields that hold our nation’s fallen, this building stands as a silent monument to the resolve of a free people. And so too this memorial in its shadow will stand not only as a symbol of a nation’s grief, but as an eternal reminder of men and women of valor who saw flame and smoke, stepped forward to save and protect the lives of their fellow Americans on September 11th.
Let it also remind each of us of those who have volunteered to serve in our nation’s armed forces before and every day since. Our nation’s military has stood strong in this new age of peril, determined that what happened here seven years ago must not happen again.
--Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Sept 11 2008
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps
I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
"Childress had arrived at the Pentagon for his new assignment Sept. 4, and his household goods were to arrive the next day. But because of a clerical error, there was a delay. He was told his goods could be delivered on Monday, the 10th, or Tuesday, the 11th.
'I told them Tuesday,' he said. 'It’s a decision that saved my life. Everyone around my desk was killed.'"
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I myself was working in my office at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cincinnati on a Bible study for later that week when my phone rang, "Pastor, are we going to have a special service?" I didn't have a clue as to why until they said to watch the news. I turned on the news just in time to see the second tower come down. I couldn't believe what was happening at first. I remember that very morning beginning to consider coming back into military service.
We had our prayer service that night. A month later we held a commemoration memorial that we had to move out on the lawn for seating. We had a Lincoln impersonator who participated by sharing part of the Gettysburg address, a section of which I use during most of my committal services at Arlington National Cemetery.
It is such an honor to have walked the halls of the Pentagon and to stand on the ground where some of those who were killed were laid to rest. These sights are a constant reminder to me of the sacrifices made and the need for service so that ...the government of the people, for the people, and by the people shall not perish from the earth." These sights remind me of my daily commitment to winning this war in whatever small way that I can contribute to the struggle.
Being a chaplain assigned to the 11th Wing here in DC has its perks at times. Today I had the incredible privilege of assisting in a wreath laying ceremony at the Air Force Memorial in honor and memory of the 84th Bombardment Group with the 8th Air Force. These fellows flew 170 combat missions over Europe flying out of England. Tremendous. This is their last reunion as many of the members are now quite elderly or have passed on.
(click to see bigger picture)
This cross is being installed in Shanksville PA made of steel from the World Trade Center.
We had a full agenda. First we visited with some of my wife's extended family that were also in town. Then we hit Grant's Farm. I noticed some changes already since Imbev has bought out AB. First there was a sign about reduced operating hours coming. And then they had Imbev beer on tap for the free samples in the beer garden. I stuck with Amber Rock. I still have to ask myself when considering how AB has been bought out if there is nothing sacred anymore. It was a topic of conversation more than once in St. Louis with my friends there.
I always have this sense of wonder when I go visit with them. They have a very nice church, parsonage, and school right out in the middle of the corn fields south of Red Bud in an area simply called Prarie. Here once finds a confessional Lutheran church focused on the provision of God's Word and Sacraments and pastoral care as people work to live out their vocations in God's creation. There is a beauty and a simplicity there.
The butterfly garden was incredible. The zoo has made some serious upgrades since we were last there. Some of the exhibits are so real that you feel as if you are standing in the midst of the jungle quietly peeking through the overgrowth at the animals.
We saw some fairly typical animals.
We hopped the train and made a mad dash around the zoo to arrive just in time to see this little cub being called in for lunch with his mother. So cute... at this age at least. 
I took my two girls through my old stomping grounds at Concordia Seminary.
And my wife fulfilled a dream of taking her children to a St. Louis landmark: Ted Drews. (and White Castle). Note: we all survived White Castle.
Of course we stopped at the world famous ARCH! on the way out of town. 
We then drove north into central Illinois to visit my first parish, a dual parish of Trinity Lutheran in La Rose and St. John's Lutheran in Washburn. We hit the area just in time for dinner at Woody's and desert for the eyes as a huge thunderstorm rolled in from the west just at sunset. I snapped this photo sitting on the console in the middle of the car with my head sticking out the sun roof as my wife drove us into Varna. 
Our days in Varna were like stepping back in a time machine. We stayed with some old friends in Varna Illinois. A very small town, but there are signs of growth here. Some new housing and the local grainery has expanded 5 fold. I enjoyed walking out early one morning to the local Casey's to get coffee and saying howdy to folks I hadn't seen in many a year. Some of them even recognized me.
I took my oldest daughter on a five mile walk down a gravel county road in the midst of the corn fields when we startled these black birds. Felt like a scene from the movie Day of the Bird there for a minute.
I even met the pet squirrel of the folks we were staying with. Our host took one look at this photo and exclamed, "he's cute. Almost makes me want to like him."
This is Trinity Lutheran Church in LaRose. The place I preached my first sermon as a pastor. (They had the early service on Sunday mornings.)
This is St. John's Lutheran Church in Washburn IL. I was ordained here and my oldest daughter was baptized here by the same pastor I visited in Prairie Illinois. 
And of course, before we left town, we introduced our youngest daughter to our nightly ritual when we lived in Washburn. We walked five blocks from the parsonage (across the street from the church) to the local Caseys and bought the girls a cookie.
