Military

Strips and Stripes

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Don't park here, go there! Fresh lines on car park area

When you’re driving down the road, have you ever thought about the strips of information  in the stripes that line the pavement ahead of you?  The stripes provide visual boundaries that indicate where you should drive.

The value of stripes are seen in other areas of life as well:

  • The stripes of a zebra allow him to blend in with the scenery.
  • The stripes of traffic signs give a warning.
  • Stripes determine when a baseball is foul, a football is in the end zone, and where the free throw line is in a game of basketball.
  • Thanks to stripes, I can distinguish between a black cat and a polecat because of the white stripe that paints the back of a skunk.
  • When I was in the military, stripes were a statement of authority and they defined the chain of command.

When Peter wrote to a group of persecuted Christians, he thought of stripes in a different context:  “Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the tree . . . and by His stripes you were healed (I Peter 2:24).”

It’s through the sacrificial death of Jesus that you’re forgiven.  Because of His stripes, God wipes away your sin:  “If a man belongs to Christ, he is a new person. The old life is gone. New life has begun (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLV).”

The stripes of the One has resulted in the healing and salvation of the many.  Are you one among the many?

A Clear and Present Danger

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advisoryAn article in the Saturday edition of the Washington Post caught my attention: “The U.S. military has boosted security at all of its stateside bases and stations, broad recognition that the United States has heightened its awareness of a possible attack inspired by the Islamic State militant group, U.S. officials said Friday.”

With this report following on the heels of the recent incident in Garland, Texas, it was a frequent topic of discussion on Saturday morning.  When the security level is raised it gets a person’s attention.

Pentagon spokesman, Army Col. Steve Warren said: “The military believes there is an increased and predictable security threat at home, with extra precautions, ID checks and searches launched across the country. It does not mean that an attack is considered imminent, however.”

How would your behavior change if you were told the danger is most certainly “imminent”?  You may not be aware of it, but here is a statement that warns you are in grave danger!

Keep your mind clear, and be alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion as he looks for someone to devour. Be firm in the faith and resist him, knowing that other believers throughout the world are going through the same kind of suffering.  ~I Peter 5:8-9

Watch your back, there’s a lion on the prowl.

Six Years Ago Today

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4-july_1100030757012814-intSix years ago today, I had the honor of speaking at a Flag Day Ceremony. Since today is Flag Day, I thought I’d share the speech I gave on June 14, 2008 . . .

We gather here this 14th day of June to honor the emblem of our country. This is the day set aside to honor the stars and stripes that decorate the banner we recognize as a flag of freedom.

This flag defines patriotism, and S]several days ago I received an email from Becky Demo that addresses this subject:
“A veteran – whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve – is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America”, for an amount of “up to and including my life.”

That email is more than rhyme and cheap rhetoric to people like Jim and Becky, and their son Jason who has served several tours in Iraq and to those of us who call ourselves veterans. To us it is more than mere sentiment—It speaks of sacrifice!

Henry Ward Beecher spoke of this sacrifice: If anyone asks me the meaning of our flag, I say to him – it means just what Concord and Lexington meant; what Bunker Hill meant; which was, in short, the rising up of a valiant young people against an old tyranny to establish the most momentous doctrine that the world had ever known – the right of men to their own selves and to their liberties. Our Flag carries American ideas, American history and American feelings. Beginning with the Colonies, and coming down to our time, in its sacred heraldry, in its glorious insignia, it has gathered and stored chiefly this supreme idea: divine right of liberty in man. Every color means liberty; every thread means liberty; every form of star and beam or stripe of light means liberty – not lawlessness, but organized, institutional liberty – liberty through law, and laws for liberty!

I can recall my four years of service in the Air Force, and each evening when the colors were retired and taps was sounded; and, almost without fail, these memories bring goose-bumps with them. I love everything this flag symbolizes, and the words of Wilbur D. Nesbit capture the essence of my feelings for the flag.
He wrote: Your Flag and My Flag—

Your flag and my flag,
And how it flies today
In your land and my land
And half a world away!
Rose-red and blood-red
The stripes forever gleam;
Snow-white and soul-white –
The good forefathers’ dream;
Sky-blue and true-blue, with stars to gleam aright –
The gloried guidon of the day, a shelter through the night.

I find it interesting that one of the first things we teach our toddlers is parade etiquette. We teach them to hold the flag in their tiny hands and to proudly wave it. Jared Gomez, a young cousin of mine and a former El Dorado toddler, has grown into manhood as a marine. As I speak, Jared is about to depart for a third tour of combat. It is the sacrifice of young men and women like him who define the significance of the Flag and give meaning to the word patriotism. They grow-up to serve our nation, to defend it and to take the chance of returning home in a flag covered casket having made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the cherished virtue called freedom.

When speaking of rights and duties associated with freedom, Calvin Coolidge said:
We do honor to the stars and stripes as the emblem of our country and the symbol of all that our patriotism means.
We identify the flag with almost everything we hold dear on earth. It represents our peace and security, our civil and political liberty, our freedom of religious worship, our family, our friends, our home. We see it in the great multitude of blessings, of rights and privileges that make up our country.
But when we look at our flag and behold it emblazoned with all our rights, we must remember that it is equally a symbol of our duties. Every glory that we associate with it is the result of duty done. A yearly contemplation of our flag strengthens and purifies the national conscience.

On this Flag Day, June 14, 2008, we stand here to pay tribute, to honor old glory, and to offer our gratitude to those who have fought and died for this country. This flag should serve to remind us of our obligation to preserve the freedom that is ours today. It is a freedom that did not come cheaply, and it is a freedom that will only be maintained if the present generation and the ones to follow are willing to pay its price.

What’s In A Name

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Most people who know me call me by the shortened form of my name.  Although my birth certificate reads, Stanley Lee Seymour,  most people call me Stan.   An etymological search of Stan reveals that it is Old English in origin and means rocky meadow or from the stony field.

Etymology, however, had nothing to do with the selection of my name.  Because my last name starts with an S, Mom and Dad thought it would be trendy for the first name of each of their children to start with an S.  My older brother’s name is Steve and my younger brother’s name is Brad.

Before he was born Brad’s name was going to be Stuart, but Mom was already having trouble calling Steve, Stan and Stan, Steve, so Stuart became Brad.

I think recent events show the power of a name.  Due to the bankruptcy of 2001, the name Enron is associated with corporate greed.  More recently, investment scams have come to be associated with the name Madoff.

Within the last couple of days, a new association has been given to the name  Schettino.  Captain Franceso Schettino has been accussed of dereliction of duty and cowardice.  If he was an officer in the United States military, he would be court-martialed.

In each of these examples, the absence of character was present.  For every ounce of character that Captain Schettio lacked, a pound of it was present in the cockpit of another captain.

The name Chesley Burnett Sullenberger III or “Sully” is associated with courage and integrity.  When faced with tragedy, he made a quick assessment; and, he landed his jet on the waters of the Hudson River.  His heroic efforts made him a household name.

Even though he attended the Air Force Academy, his actions remind me of the Army Cadet Prayer:  Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole can be won.

The disciplined life that Sully developed as a cadet, was on display on that cold January day of 2009.   Each of our military academies provide a daily regimen that builds the type of character and integrity that defines Captain Sullenberger.

The absence of character and the decline of morals was the focus of study by the Institue for American Values:  If a central task of every generation is moral transmission, religion is a primary force in American life — historically, it has probably been the primary force — that transmits from one generation to another the moral understandings that are essential to liberal democratic institutions. Religion is especially suited to this task because it focuses our minds and hearts on obligations to each other that arise out of our shared createdness. By elevating our sights toward others and toward ultimate concerns, religious institutions help us turn away from self-centeredness . . .

I’ve been told that character is an Old English word that comes from the print shop and means the mark left behind.  Schettino or Sullenberger, what mark defines your name?

Here’s a thought to keep you thinking:  A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold (Proverbs 22:1).