a sobering realization

I watched about 1/2 an hour of a war movie last night. Not sure what it was, but Nicholas Cage was in it. As I sat on my bed taking in the combat scenes, I came to the stark realization that I'll never be able to casually watch a war movie like I used to.

Before, the blood and guts...and death, was entertainment. When the movie was over, so was the entire experience. I went on with my life without any thought. But as I watched Nicholas Cage die last night, it hit me that he was somebody, somebody with a wife and kids, somebody beyond a soldier on the battlefield. His wife and kids would never see him again. Someone (likely a chaplain) would be given the sobering task of visiting the family and telling them the news. Hard.

I've witnessed thousands of on-screen deaths in my many years of watching tv/movies. In the 1/2 hour I watched last night, dozens of men were killed. I began noticing even when the bad guys took bullets. I've become desensitized to this whole war/death thing, but it is real. A moment on the battlefield translates to a lifetime without a husband or daddy for so many.

A classic line from M*A*S*H came when Henry Blake was counseling Hawkeye over the death of a soldier. Blake said these words, which I've never forgotten: "rule number one of war is that young men die. Rule number two is that doctors cannot change rule number one."

Here is the business to which God has called me. God equips those He calls and I desire to be a willing servant.

praying for peace
pjim