If you’re anything like me, this weekend you have been glued to the news, paying attention to what is being and isn’t being said about the attacks in Iran. I served for over 14 years in the military and still pay very close attention to the conflicts we are engaged in. I spent a deployment in the UAE just south of where Iran hit a hotel with a missile. The anxiety of conflict affects each of us differently. Some of us have kids in the military, or are serving in the military ourselves, and some have no connection to the military but are concerned about what is happening.
My goal for this Substack is not to write about current events. However, sometimes current events speak to what I am already writing about. Especially since I am writing from the perspective of an Army Veteran, that served in the Middle East, returning to his faith. I would like to take this opportunity to address some issues regarding developments in the Middle East.
First and foremost, we now have a confirmation, as of the moment I am writing this, there are 6 US Service Members that have been killed in the conflict. This is a sad reality of armed conflict between nations. People get hurt, and people die. Military members, especially, are often at the center of this reality. The other casualty of armed conflict isn’t just the actual lives of those lost. It’s the causality of young men and women’s innocence. They have now lost a friend, a coworker, a leader, and they will more than likely experience some deep feelings about their role in this loss.
Families have now lost spouses, children, uncles, and aunts. The damage that occurs affects everyone. It affects the coworkers of the family members who are now in grief. The theory of six degrees of separation is at play here. Of course, as you get further away from the deceased service member, the effects change and lessen slightly. But the trauma is still there.
There is also the school that was bombed. Whether it was a mistaken target or strategic doesn’t matter. It isn’t beneath the Ayatollah to use an all-girls school as a cover for evil. Evil is evil, and unfortunately, in the US’s attempts to squash the evil, more innocent lives were affected. The girls who were killed, their parents, their teachers, and the teachers’ families. It is all connected. While I served, and I am sure still, we used a phrase about when a combatant or even a noncombatant was killed, what it did: “We made another terrorist.” It is like the hydra in Greek Mythology. For every head we chopped off, two more grew. It’s part of how ISIS was founded—we allowed for a power vacuum to take effect.
It is easy to get caught up in the drama and emotion of the conflict—who is right, who is wrong, and whether it is legal. So, whether you agree or disagree with the conflict in Iran and the surrounding areas, one thing we can agree on is that souls are affected, innocent and guilty. Even if we are spiritually at other ends of faith with those killed or grieving, their souls are affected, and we must take them into account. In C.S. Lewis’s wisdom and experience of war, he wrote in The Screwtape Letters that Satan will use such events to wage war for our souls. Do not allow our preconceived understandings of the world destroy our own humanity. Pray for even those perceived as the enemy. As mankind, we only have one enemy and he isn’t as powerful as Our God.
Our servicemembers’ souls are also at stake. We must do everything possible to ensure our servicemembers can receive the sacraments. I wrote about this in an earlier issue, when I discussed a lost opportunity to return to my faith. Satan is using the lack of resources our military members have to keep them agnostic, indifferent, or plain rebellious against God. Please give that issue a peek; it will offer you a little insight into my experiences in combat and how I eventually came home by the grace of God. You can find it here:
The Burning Bush I Missed
Have you ever wondered what it would look like if Moses had walked away from the burning bush? Of course not. The All-Sovereign God knows all and knew Moses was the leader He wanted to lead His people out of the hands of Egyptian rule, before Moses was born. Although the scenario is implausible, I often wonder if I
As we wait for more information and the conflict to either escalate or resolve, we must remember to keep everyone involved in our prayers. We must pray for our leaders as they make these decisions. Pray for the service members in the heat of the battle, pray for the perceived enemies, pray for the families, and pray for the departed. Pray for the civilians affected in their homes, and pray for peace in the region.
Prayer in a Time of War
God our Father,
Maker and lover of peace,
To know you is to live,
And to serve you is to reign.
All our faith is in your saving help;
Protect us from men of violence
And keep us safe from weapons of hate.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Military Chaplains
Heavenly Father, bless and protect Military Chaplains and fill them
with the joy and courage of their vocation as personal ministers of
Christ in preaching your word and nourishing us with the Sacraments.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel
Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle,
Be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil.
We humbly beseech God to command him,
And do thou, O prince of the heavenly host,
By the divine power thrust into hell Satan
And the other evil spirits who roam through the world
Seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
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