Miserere Mei

I rose at 5 a.m. today to start on all the things ahead of me. After working to get several things together at home, I went to my Hebrew exegesis class. I left the class early and headed straight for Atlanta, to Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem. There was some Army business I needed to take care of.

After the five-hour round trip and the time in Atlanta, I joined a friend at a pizza buffet in Birmingham for supper, still wearing my dress uniform. As I was standing in line to get my drink, a girl of about fourteen or so came up to me. She asked, “Are you a soldier?” After I answered in the affirmative, she said, “Thanks.” I could only mumble a surprised and tired “Thanks” in response.

The past two weeks, I have been playing the red tape game while attempting to handle paperwork and other requirements for accession to active duty. It has been a big headache. This week alone, I was given three completely new hoops to jump through and to complete by close of the day. I gave my best effort to get everything done but it didn’t happen, through no fault of my own. Things beyond my control contributed to delaying certain action from this month until at least February. All told, it was a rather disappointing day.

But, when I relayed to my friend at dinner what the girl had said, tears came to my eyes, as they do now, too. As a chaplain, I’m a noncombatant, but I’m still a soldier. And, were it up to me, I’d fight and die any day for this country’s citizens. My contribution to the military defense of this nation is but a pittance thus far; I look forward hopefully, expecting to accession in the near future, and with sincere humility that a girl is grateful.