Day Sixteen

Today (Tuesday – I am a day behind…) was… interesting. In group dynamics, we are taught that first comes Forming, wherein the group feels out each other. Then comes Norming, wherein the group all finds their place in the structure. Then comes Storming, wherein the group finds itself butting up against biases and prejudices and has to “work stuff out”. Only then comes Performing, wherein the group really fires on all cylinders, having gotten through their “issues.” Today we Stormed!!

The day began with our first test. I did acceptably – an 87. Following the test, we convened upstairs in the Protestant chapel for the promotion of our Ch, Capt Steven Richardson to Major. Ch Richardson was the instructor who taught us the Marriage Retreat class we had the first week. He is a great guy… and did I mention he is the son of the Air Force Chief of Chaplains, Ch, Major General Cecil Richardson? (That’s two stars, for those counting)  Ch Richardson (Sr) is the highest ranking chaplain in the Air Force; we serve at his pleasure. Well, he was there for the promotion, and it was a real honor.

Two of Ch Richardson's three sons (the youngest was too small) pinning his Major rank insignia on his shoulders. How awesome is that!!!

Air Force Chief of Chaplains, Ch, Major General Cecil Richardson looks on as his son is promoted to Major. It is believed that they are the first father/son active duty chaplains, serving at the same time, in the history of the military.

Following the ceremony, we had a class on Ethics in the Chaplaincy. That was pretty tame. Then the poop hit the fan.  We had our long-anticipated class on Pluralism. This is where I found that some of my fellow chaplains who are “on fire for the Lord” scared me just a WEE bit. What I seemed to be hearing pretty clearly was that they (well, SOME of them) feel called by Jesus to minister and witness wherever and to whom ever. If a Jewish kid comes in with a problem, it’s time to bring up Jesus. I became the spokesman for a more pluralistic approach (surprise, surprise, surprise!), but many a head nodded in agreement with me throughout the debate. While the conversation never lost civility, I summed things up at the end when I said, “Guys, there are great pastors that make lousy chaplains, and there are great chaplains that make lousy pastors. But the military is not just another church; it is a unique church with a unique mission. And it’s not for everyone.”

The conversations continued in the hallway, the breakroom, the bathroom… Even after an unrelated class, the conversations continued. By the end of the day, the guys clarified for me that if a Jewish kid would come in, they would first ask, “Do you mind if I bring Jesus into the conversation?” If the kid said no, they wouldn’t  bring it up. But they would also probably refer the kid elsewhere. Small comfort.

The intervening class was on Chaplaincy in the battlefield. The class was given by an Army chaplain, who has served in the “Sandbox” extensively. His PowerPoint was horrificly graphic, which he he prefaced by saying, “I want you to see this stuff here for the first time, not there in front of the soldier.”

He had the most AWESOME Army expressions – as an example, he asked, “What is the effective range of a prayer?  Answer: Beyond the light of sight.” (His point was you don’t need to be with the soldier to pray – but it uses an artillery metaphor… oh, forget it!)

He also informed us that Iraq is the Beenie Baby Capital of the World. It seems that the Beenie Baby craze ended when the war in Iraq was on – and as people started cleaning out their closets, they figured what better thing to do with their MILLIONS of Beenie Babies than to send them to Iraq. He told me that soldiers throw them by the armful from Humvees to Iraqi kids – and most have at least one stuffed into a pocket in the uniform for comfort…

My friends went to dinner at a burger joint – so I joined them virtually from my room, having two Morningstar Grillers and microwaved French Fries! Yeah!