Dear Lord, (3/18/10)

                “Orders are given with the expectation they’ll be carried out.” This was a quote off of Gundam Seed Destiny by the leader of Blue Cosmos. Though I don’t agree with their views on war and peace, this quote got me thinking. An image that popped up on a different episode of the series was of Captain Gladys on break drinking coffee with the following image being of one of her ship’s soldiers (Shinn) sleeping. It just made me think that those people in positions of power have extremely hard jobs. They have to decide what the best course of action is to take. While, on the other hand, soldiers are given their orders and they don’t HAVE to think about the causes or reasons behind them, all they have to do is carry out their assigned orders. It’s those soldiers that do think about the reasons for their orders that get overwhelmed, frustrated, and grief-stricken. If one is following what is actually happening in a given battle compared to what is happening around the world at that time, they are setting themselves up for making a decision. They are no longer just a soldier that takes orders without question, but a living, thinking HUMAN BEING that understands the meaning of iba (compassion).

                Those of us who have never been on the battlefield (myself included) don’t usually take the time to look at the bigger picture. We say that compassion and mercy should be automatic instincts for a soldier, when in truth they are probably taught otherwise in training. We at home put ourselves in the role of overseer because we haven’t left our comfortable lifestyles. The kindness that one parent has tried to establish in their child’s life could have been lost by a command to be emotionless, but the parent doesn’t understand that.

                Lord, I don’t know if I’m making any sense. I see this playing out in my mind, but I’m having trouble putting into a series of understandable and well laid out ideas. Please, I’m not a soldier, so I don’t understand most of what soldiers actually do or think. I guess these are just some of my rambling thoughts that I wanted to share with You.

                If a soldier actually thought about why he/she was in battle, then what would he/she do? Would they go crazy by realizing that people (both enemies and allies) were being killed? Would they turn a blind eye and just say that this is what has to be done in order to obtain peace? Peace, a whole other story there…

                Your commander tells you to fight, then you fight. If they tell you to kill, then you kill. If they tell you to steal, then you steal. How much regret can any one person take upon their conscious before they go crazy? It may be easier for a soldier if they were just to follow orders to the T, because then they wouldn’t have to think about what’s behind those orders. But when even one person starts to open his/her mind onto what’s actually going on they could very well become emotionally distressed.

                Another quote from Gundam Seed Destiny, presented by a soldier (a faith member, a captain of sorts), “We’re in the middle of a war and we’re soldiers. If you forget, then you’ll die.” It’s true though, isn’t it? If you take your mind off of any battle for even a second, then your reaction time to defend yourself and your friends is lost and someone will end up dying.

                I could go on with this for quite a while longer. One last thing in regards to this, if none of the soldiers did what was commanded in the first place, then you’d have disorganization and probably a massacre. Lord, You know all of this. I’m not telling You because I feel You need to be reminded. It’s just that…it’s something that’s been on my mind and You seem to be the best person to share it with. I’m not totally sure that anyone else would actually understand why I wrote this up. I’m not in the military and I’m not planning to go fight a war any time soon. I just had to get my thoughts out somewhere…and to someone.

                After all, we’re supposed to be soldiers for You as Christians, aren’t we? What does that really mean?