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page last updated 10.09.2009
In On Call, we have a tradition of chaplaincy for all. This inspiring article comes from one who life has been greatly impacted by the work of chaplaincy ministers and much can be learned from it. +Ian
An Old Soldier's Letter to Chaplains, Lieutenant General Hal G. Moore, Jr., United States Army, Retired. Delivered as the Keynote Address Military Chaplains Association 83rd Annual Meeting, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, 8 April 2008. Printed by permission.
Dear Chaplains of the United States Military, I am just an old soldier in the winter of my life. Not knowing when I might be going out of the game, I sense this a moment to speak about the great good that military chaplains have played in my life since I entered West Point in the year 1942. I can never thank you enough for reminding me all of these years that God comes first! But now, I am speaking with you in a different role, one of sharing my heart from the outside looking in. To stand with those of you who have dedicated your lives to God and to the American military that serve us so bravely, is a moment full of grace. I have felt more comfortable taking on the enemy and bullets in Korea and Vietnam than I do now!!! I have a 96-year old acquaintance who frequently says, Let me put the hay down low enough for you to eat it, teasing me and others, in explaining things of importance - with great emphasis. Well, dear men and women of God, I am taking a page from him, so please walk with me on this short journey we shall now share together. Let us cut to the chase! How important are you as chaplains? I can think of three 'mirror' reasons. Reason 1 - I believe that the joy in life is the unexpected presence of the Lord. And who might most often represent that unexpected presence in the Lord to those in the military? Look in the mirror! Reason 2 - The Lord is the Great Interpreter. But in whom does He rely upon to help interpret His message? Look in the mirror! Reason 3 - Man can never fully understand the mystery of God, but at least we, as human beings do not have to misunderstand the mystery. And to whom does He depend on helping Him help us not to misunderstand? Look in the mirror! What you do, day in and day out, is critical to one's sense of worth and balance in life - and is the most challenging battlefield known to humanity! Where you go and how you function is for the unseen, the unknown, and for the eternal souls of other human beings. At least where I have been, decisions made were based upon the facts - as I knew them, and the enemy, and for the most part, were visible in some fashion. In your life's work, the enemy is faceless, and workKs inside each of us daily. To kill it in one moment or one day does not mean that it will not strike again just when we think we have overcome. It truly waits when we are at our weakest and attacks with all of the weapons available to it. Our troops are vulnerable to this enemy as it works from the inside out, just when the trooper is dealing with the traditional enemy. This and more is what you must deal with every day. Whether it be at home or on a foreign soil, the chaplain in the military has always been critical to the most important balance of the trooper H the mind, body, and soul. I think of our individual military as almost like a three-legged stool. One leg represents the mind, one the body, and the third H the soul. They are equal in role and without one leg, regardless its emphasis, the stool topples over and is of no value. Why is a military soldier any different? Why are each of you as a chaplain any different? Why am I any different? We are no different than the stool, totally dependent on all three legs to stay upright. The truth in dealing with this is that two of the three legs are easily definable and can be seen and felt. The mind can be sharpened and recognized for its intellect and decision-making abilities. The body can be fit and ready for all physical requirements. With both, one knows whether or not he or she is ready to take on whatever comes its way. However, that third leg H the soul H is different. When do you know that it is ready to take on all encounters from whatever direction? Even you, our chaplains, when do you know the truth of your state of readiness in dealing with self first and then others? As I consider our visit today and look into your eyes and know your hearts, there is great love in this room. I feel it. It is why I am here today with you, because of the love and great respect I have felt from the chaplain community from my youth and all of my life. At every turn, there has been someone of great faith and full of GodKs love right there next to me. From a smile, to just walking along with me, these men of God have been there. From near failure, to dealing with death of my troops, chaplains have been there. From prayer to tears shared together, chaplains have been there all of my military life, and even beyond the military. I truly do not live a day of my life without thinking in some way about Father Murdock and the spiritually compelling role he played in my life during the formative years of my early 20's while a Cadet at West Point. He made a difference, a permanent and indelible difference in the way I chose to live my life. And that difference is the same today, 62 years later! Whether it be at home or on a foreign soil, the chaplain in the military has always been critical to the most important balance of the trooper – the mind, body, and soul. What this difference is, even today, can best be expressed by my sharing what I believe Father Murdock and other chaplains have done to influence my beliefs and my behavior. It really boils down to what I believe and how I behave! I do not wish to be too personal here, but all I have to draw upon is my personal experiences, as you do. I will speak direct here. I have no advice to give you, as I am attempting to deal with my faith everyday. From daily prayer, meditation, reading many religious books, attending retreats, being a very frequent church participant, and even sharing my spiritual journey, I have for many years worked at growing spiritually. But I must say to you, having a chaplain in one's life is perhaps the most valuable partner and mentor a soldier can have. For me, my chaplain became my friend first. And then I became his friend. And then, he mentored me toward God in the kindest and most loving actions of leadership. I believe the order of things is important. Had he not become my friend and he and others attempted to lead me toward God, I might have not received it as warmly and accepting as I did in my life. The relationship must come first. In my years, I have witnessed persons who prematurely preach, or invest time, in speaking about God before a true relationship has been established. Let us remember also, that we must always speak to God about those in our lives BEFORE we speak to them about God! I always pray that those who come into my life to speak about God have prayed for me first and for the relationship, whatever that may be. As we continue this time together, I am now reaching back in thinking about great Godly contributions that have been made in my life by chaplains and ask you in return to reflect on your ministry and how you might be serving others in your walk with God and the troops. Chaplains have always helped me believe that the best is yet to come. No matter how desperate things seemed, when I was close to failing at West Point, he was providing hope and encouragement. When it appeared that the battle of Ia Drang could be lost, I knew that winning was the only acceptable option. Hope and encouragement for me and my men was critical from chaplains. One cannot overstate the importance of feeling loved by others in your life whom you greatly respect, starting with oneKs chaplain. As a chaplain, do you provide inspiration that the best is yet to come? Chaplains have always been spiritual giants in my life. We all need spiritual giants in our lives, including chaplains. Even the Pope has a spiritual director. Do you have a spiritual director, a spiritual giant whom you learn from in your spiritual journey? What a thrill and joy it is to have another to share your journey with and to be able to grow toward our God. As a chaplain, do you have a spiritual giant in your life? Chaplains have helped me set spiritual goals for growth by thinking through my dreams and my discontents and identify those attitudes and actions that needed to be discarded and not having the As I reflect about you and your role as chaplains, remember that YOU may be the ONLY scripture another person may ever READ!!! The Military Chaplain highest of potential to reach my spiritual goals. And I wish to say, setting goals spiritually is no less important than what goals are set in mind and body. As a chaplain, are you helping those in your life with setting spiritual goals and monitoring the progress with them? Chaplains can help another translate aspirations into action. Chaplains can help one adopt a new pattern of conduct for every challenge we seek to meet. As a chaplain, are you deeply engaged with others to assist them in adopting new patterns of conduct if appropriate? This is where you can really impact a person's life. As a chaplain, are you willing to become this engaged? Chaplains have the capability of heart and love to help us take on the enemies who unwittingly attempt to steal our spirituality, and often those persons come from family, friends and ordinary folk you see every day. Chaplains can be the direct source of strength and love needed when the outside world may be attacking our inside world. Chaplains may be the last line of defense. As a chaplain, are you the listener, the support, and the spiritual resource to help those who are fighting to stay true to their faith? Chaplains can be the needed person to help us be patient with our spiritual maturity and speaking to it being the quest of a lifetime. To be that speaker for patience, the chaplain should also be so patient with him or herself. To even be in such a valued place with another, a relationship of great brotherly love and mutual respect should be in place. In this case, spiritual maturity is more apt to be learned by those of us who want it NOW! As a chaplain, are you so patient with yourself? As I reflect about you and your role as chaplains, remember that YOU may be the ONLY scripture another person may ever READ!!! Let me repeat these words. As I reflect about you and your role as chaplains, remember that YOU may be the ONLY scripture another person may ever READ!!! There is no doubt in my mind that spiritual growth is a nurturing process and has two primary aspects, a believing side and a behaving side. What do you believe? How do you behave? It starts with you&ldots; and in turn impacts me. And many of us learn differently from different people. God taught in parables. From stories. I believe chaplains have a great opportunity to help others by sharing their story, by being personal. We seem to lack real authentic dialogue in this country, and the best place is through sharing and growing spiritually. That seems to me to be a chaplainKs window of opportunity with those who seek to know their God. In Ephesians 4:15, the apostle Paul put it as plainly as possible: God wants us to grow up. That is where the real opportunity lies. For it is in your hearts and souls to help persons like me to grow up - spiritually. As I see you the chaplain, we can take heart in a heartless world because God is for us, He is with us, and He is in us. With each of you, I believe you know why you are here! And unless you can help the rest of us know why we are here, we will never fully understand what we are to do. I believe many in the military are questioning why they are here at all. And when you can help us with this, we soldiers will then begin to fully understand what we are to do with our lives and how we should live it. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is when the knees drop to the ground! This is where God will meet each of us as our spirituality matures. Being with you is a Icentering momentJ in my life. Never would I have thought that my thinking could or should be shared with men and women of God. Being with you has been a blessing in a Godly way. Privileged I am. And I shall pray for you in your most serious work of God and for our military men and women who seek to know the truth. It has been said that the Isoul stands at attention when the thought of God passes by.J That is what happens when a chaplain comes into the presence of another and that is a very good and God thing!!! May you always know and believe with all your heart that what you do matters to every soul you touch. The key to your success is linked to saviourship. The heart of saviourship is sacrifice. The key to leadership in every role is serving and I believe there are tender words that represent each of you &ldots; providing, protecting, teaching, caring, guiding, loving, developing, freeing, sacrificing, leading, and praying. The essence of these tender tones is servanthood, sacrifice. And that is to me what the chaplaincy is all about. There should be a vulnerable, wide-open, unselfish way about your profession - a 'here is my soul' communication. I do not ever believe I have interacted with a chaplain that I did not feel a kindred spirit. When we soldiers are at our worst or our best, where does one go for the Story of Stories? Where else but to the Book of Books! And to whom should we go? The Chaplains! To the military service man or woman, the chaplain is where the buck stops! You are GodKs first and last line of defense. You are called to be a warrior against sin! The collision that occurred when sin and God met at the Cross 2,000 years ago must have been a mega moment. That was where the way of life was opened! Today, it is the chaplain who stands tall between sin and God. There is no greater calling - none! Please remember the 'STOOL' visual shared with you and the needed balance between mind, body, and soul in your calling! “Discover to me, O my God, &ldots; the nothingness of this world, &ldots; the greatness of heaven, &ldots; the shortness of time, &ldots; and the length of eternity.” I ask you. Are you on a quest to discover the truth still, even if you happen to be up in years as I am and think you have read it all? Do you have a faith that is a dynamic, developmental reality that challenges even the committed believer such as you, to a life of ceaseless growth? Is your faith flourishing? If the answer is YES to these three questions, then you are the chaplain for me!!! And, I suspect the same for thousands of others who seek to learn from and with you.
Three final thoughts.
On the Military Family I cannot stand before you and ignore the military family back home and what happens within that family upon a soldier's return. For me, I have dealt with war and the impact of war on me personally and the impact on my family. I do not know if you happened to read the New York Times Sunday H the article After War, Love Can Be a Battlefield. Allow me to speak to this truth. Written by Leslie Kaufman, a couple is highlighted as they are participating in a retreat as part of a new front in the Army's 'Strong Bonds' programs, which are for families and couples and run by chaplains. Chaplain Colonel Glen Bloomstrom, the Command Chaplain at Fort Leavenworth who championed the retreat, stated it as a way to address the stress that war places on marriages H where stress often first manifests itself and where it can take the greatest toll. I am comforted in knowing that there is increased emphasis by chaplains on the family after war H so very important. On a Lifetime of Spiritual Formation I read a great deal. I have four to five religious and spiritual books in my reading corner on the floor that I am reading at one time. One piece of encouragement to you, I have found is that I do not need to read all the books available, I just need to read the very best books over and over! As chaplains, your lifetime devotion improves with a commitment to lifetime formation and study. On Letting Go and Letting God There are times in our lives when we need to let go of something and let God take over. The human condition wants to hang on and not let go H to follow something to the end, when in fact, once we have done what we have been called to do, we then need to let it go, and turn it over to God knowing that He is in control. The last thing God needs is our interfering with what He does so very well. One example I know about represents a story from a friend of mine and his meeting up with a homeless man in downtown Nashville. The man asked for money. But my friend smelled liquor and questioned him. Eventually, he gave him money because the man said he needed to eat. He even though my friend knew he would use it to buy liquor. Once money exchanged hands, the homeless man quickly departed around the corner. My friend could not let it go He needed and wanted to follow the man. After two blocks and trying to conceal his following, he saw the man walk into a Burger King. My friend stood watching in the window, as the man got in line and ordered his food. He turned away with shame. Why? Because once the money was given away, what happened after that was God's job, not his. It was a lesson he learned - in better knowing when to let go. It is my guess that chaplains might also face similar challenges in knowing when to let go and let God! In conclusion, I shall pray and thank God every day for your sacrificing your life for the higher good and the Higher God. Being an Honorary Chaplain and part of the Unit Ministry Team at Fort Benning as of February 13, 2008 +my 86th birthday, I am most proud to be, in some small way, one of you. What an honor and a blessing! Please bow your heads with me in this prayer and repeat these words after me, mentally in your minds. Discover to me, O my God, the nothingness of this world, the greatness of heaven, the shortness of time, and the length of eternity.
May the very next person you meet who is seeking to know God, see Him in your eyes and your godly actions. Sincerely yours for God and Country, Hal G. Moore Honorary Chaplain Fort Benning, Georgia Limited permission to reproduce and distribute this entire letter or excerpts is granted for instructional purposes only. All reproductions and distributions must reference: The Military Chaplain, Volume Eighty-One, Number Two, Summer Edition.
copyright (c) The Province and Jurisdiction for On Call Ministry and its member groups unless otherwise stated.
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