Remembering a hero December 9, 2006
Posted by marineben in Personal, USA.1 comment so far
Last Sunday, 3 December 2006 at 0800 Central Standard Time in the U.S., an officer that I knew who served here at Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center as the Commanding Officer of the Army unit, Delta Company 577th Engineer Battallion was killed in action in Iraq by an IED. Captain Shawn English was a hero in every way. I know the soldiers who served and are still here at the Dive School better than I knew him; but through them, I have come to know more of this man who was a loving husband, devoted father, and couragious Soldier. Shawn leaves behind a wife and 3 young boys who are a testimony to a man who wanted nothing more in his life than to do his job well, and show his family every day how much he cared for them. Shawn was a man who had his faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour as his pastor shared at the Memorial service that was held for him yesterday at Woodlawn Methodist church here in town. This is the most important fact about Shawn that a person could know, that he was a follower of Jesus Christ. While we sorrow at his death, we rejoice in the hope of the knowledge that he is with God in Heaven if he truly knew Christ.
This is the only the second death of someone in the Global War on Terror that I have been involved with and only the first that I have known personally. The Commanding Officer at Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center asked me to lead in a short memorial time after their uniform inspection this morning which I did. What I reflected on and continue to reflect on is that those who knew him best are really hurting. I told them that God understands that pain and grief and if they will turn to him for comfort, they can truly find it. The situation did not allow me to be much more evangelistic than that, but I think that it was appropriate and if it causes even one person to move a step closer to seeking an eventual relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, then Shawn’s death will have accomplished at least one good thing. Please keep the English family in your prayers as well as the soldiers of Delta Company 577th Engineers.
4th of July 2006 July 4, 2006
Posted by marineben in USA.add a comment
On this 4th of July, I thought it was appropriate to reflect on our nation, that God has so richly blessed. I feel that too many Christians put their patriotism in front of their Christianity, but there is no doubt that we live in the freest nation on earth. The Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan, aptly described this nation in his final address to the nation. His words still ring true today.
The past few days when I’ve been at that window upstairs, I’ve thought a bit of the “shining city upon a hill.” The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we’d call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free.
I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it and see it still.
And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that; after 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.
The question for all of us who continue to build the history of our nation is this: Is this still a tall, proud, God blessed city; and will it continue to be a beacon and magnet for all who must have freedom. It is up to each of us to do our part to continue that legacy of freedom for future generations. Will you do your part? Happy Fourth of July!!
