The Anatomy of Courage

(RETRO POSTED - 04 Jan 2008)

I hope that you all have had a wonderful holiday season and that somewhere amidst the hustle and bustle you were able to be still and remember how God touched humanity some 2000 years ago. I have been at my parents since Dec. 22 and have been enjoying some time relaxing and visiting with friends and family. In fact I was able to see many of you during this time. It was especially nice to finally meet my niece Allyson Joy. She is really a beautiful little baby and I loved holding her and watching her as she has begun to become aware of the world. This time off has been great but will be over soon.

I return to training in Virginia on Saturday morning 5 January. Training then resumes on Monday. It's going to be an especially demanding next couple of weeks. To begin I have been given the billet of squad leader for the next two weeks. This means I am responsible for all my fellow officers in my squad, which amounts to 17. I am directly accountable for knowing where they are and what they're doing at all times. I will be under a little more scrutiny and evaluation in this position. Additionally, beginning Monday through Saturday the company will be training out in the field on our first official Field Exercise (FEX I). The focus of this week is squad sized offensive and defensive operations. Training will focus on our ability to act and react effectively in a tactical environment. I'm looking forward to it as I would much rather spend time running around in the woods than sitting in a classroom. These field exercises are going to become more common place in the training schedule now that they have taught us the foundation of skills we need to operate in tactical environments. In total we have 7 Field Exercises (FEX) ranging from 3 to 7 days in duration. This is where the real learning takes place, mostly through mistakes and remediating those mistakes.

Of course I have more to write than just an update on events and happenings. I have recently been reading "The Anatomy of Courage" by Lord Moran, who is no yokel despite what his name might suggest. The book takes a very scholarly look at courage, fear, and war. He focuses on how soldiers react in different ways to fear and the manner in which they either carry on to fulfill their duties or cower from their duties in the face of great danger. It is an interesting read and I have also been able to make some connections to my spiritual life that I wanted to share with you all. There is one short little quote from the book that has stood out to me in particular. Lord Moran is recounting a personal experience with an officer in WWI who showed up in the battalion aid station (field hospital of sorts) without any visible ailments, but he complained that he was "out of sorts". Lord Moran goes on to describe him as "Full of his woes". I really like that. If we fill ourselves with our woes and worries we have no room left to fill us with Christ who is our freedom from fear. We become combat ineffective (As I would call it) like the officer in the story. We cannot effectively lead, follow, or fight at that point. I have also realized that this is more in our control than we might think. We don't have control of circumstances but we have absolute control of our response to the circumstances. It comes back to security. If our security is in our control of the situation we will be "full of our woes". If our security is in Christ we will be full of peace (Phil 4:7).

I'd love to hear thoughts on this.

Until next time...embracing the passion,
J