24Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children.
Those who love their children care enough to discipline them. (Proverbs 13:24)
Hello friends. How is your new year going? It is crazy to think we are just a few days away from half of January passing before our eyes. There is a lot going on in the world right now. I feel very out-of-touch currently. I was very busy this week and it is looking like we will be operating at this tempo from now until mid-March. Which is nice, because it is making the second-half of this deployment fly by.
One of the reasons I have been busy this week was two late nights babysitting grown men after senior NCOs (non-commissioned officers) finally drew their line in the sand with the conditions of the “bays” (living areas) of lower enlisted soldiers. At our station in Poland, we live in two Polish barracks at an artillery training base. Some of the American soldiers live in four-man (or woman) rooms, some in six, some in eight. But most of the lower enlisted live in the very top floor of the “attic”. In the building I live in, there’s about 10 or so in that bay. In the other building, which has an open floor plan throughout the top floor, they have about 30 soldiers. While I do not have any soldiers I am directly responsible for, since December I have been working along side a specialist (the rank just before being promoted to an NCO) to learn his job because he is all alone and expected to handle all the radio capabilities of the entire Battalion.
When word came out that both bays and all rooms were to be inspected Thursday morning, this soldier asked me if I was going to come help clean his room (room is an understatement, it’s more of a 8×12’ corner). I told him absolutely not, that he was a grown man, and I was not his father. But he asked me to at least come look at his room and tell me why I thought they were saying his area was messy. I knew I owed him that much as an NCO, so I went up and pointed out his obvious deficiencies and stood by until he got his area cleaned up (I ended up helping after all by sweeping and clearing some empty boxes out). But standing up there and listening to this 23-year-old man (I use that term loosely) complain about how he thought his not-very-organized-corner could be seen as unclean struck a nerve, as well as seeing all the trash these lower enlisted had accumulated was absolutely pathetic. It made me think of the Proverb above that I had just read last weekend, and wondering where their discipline was when they were younger, because most of them had absolutely abandoned it over here.
Then there’s the sense of entitlement they all have. The sense they deserve their own room, that having to sleep and share space with others is such an infringement on their privilege as a soldier. None of them realize that in other areas around Poland, their fellow brothers and sisters in arms are living in giant tents where it’s two men per bunk, 1 locker each, basic training style. And it is obvious that not one of them are even giving a thought to the men and women their age freezing in the cold and dirt, being maimed and blown up by drones, fighting for their lives and their country. But, in reality, is anyone giving Ukraine a second thought any more? Have we already looked away from the genocide in Palestine and gotten back to watching our new favorite show on Netflix?
But I digress. Sorry to continue to be in a foul mood for the New Year. But after being reminded of the depth of evil in humanity at Auschwitz last weekend, and dealing with the constant disappointment of humanity in the soldiers around me, I am desperately trying to find hope in our humanity.
At least I still have the ability to speak to my wonderful family back home, to listen to new music, spend time in the Word, and improve my physical fitness. Those last three just happen to be my goal for y’all between this blog and the devotionals we continue to work on and publish. So pivoting back to my basics: I only shared one song from last weekend’s opening releases for 2024, but there were several dozen that came out. It looks like it is going to be another great year of Christian Music. One of the more uplifting songs that came out and a good reminder for us all is the one below. While it may not seem like it in these dark times, God is good (all the time). And all the time, God is good.
Common Sense Reborn 