9/11 Remembered — From a Pilot’s Perspective

As Christians, we believe our minds, souls, and bodies were created for God-ordained rhythms of work, rest, and worship. Military duty necessarily pulls us away from these rhythms. Even as I am thankful, proud, and grounded because of my military experience, the intensity of that experience has a shadow side which takes a toll on many veterans.

When I was in Afghanistan I took a couple of long drives to other camps and was always wary of what could happen on those drives. We did a lot of preparation to make sure the risks were reduced to a minimum. One time I had a forward air controller with me, someone who could call for help from the Air Force if we needed it. It was amazing how much more relaxed I was knowing that if someone did give us trouble, some serious firepower would turn up quickly in order to help us out. That is why I like Psalm 93 so much — it reminds me that we have some serious firepower backing us up all the time.

Life is messy. People are messed-up. And it doesn’t take too many things to go wrong before we can really feel like we’re in a horrible mess. That’s because we live in a broken world. As military serving around the world and at home, you know that probably better than anybody. Ever since Adam and Eve and that fateful choice in The Garden (Genesis 3), the relationships between God and man, man and man, and man and this earth have been broken. But there’s hope, and His name is Jesus.