Afghanistan Week 9

I had a chance to travel again this week.  Again, I was impressed by the amazing folks we have working things at a tactical level...  My team and I continue to try to push these lesson's learned into practical course corrections ... it is our duty to make an effort.  

My return back to HQs was disrupted a bit due to a
suicide bombing near our front gate.  Senseless things people do out here.  The suicide bomber killed 6 afghan civilians to include several children.  Very sad.  All so they could make a headline that no one will remember in a week.  

For church today we watched a broadcast put on by the Church's Military Relations Committee for service members in N Africa and the Middle East.  It was recorded in June, but it was the first time I had seen it.  It was very good.  I was especially impressed with comments said that the duration of our mortal lives may be short or may be long, but that in the eternal scheme of things, that was really not very important.  What is important is the character we developed during whatever time we are allotted.  That is good counsel for all, but especially for military families.

It is hard to make sense of the kinds of tragedy, poverty, illiteracy, ignorance, hate, greed etc associated with war; the Afghan children are beautiful, but quickly degenerate in a corrupt society.  Without the light of the Gospel, men falter.  Even without war, it is a sad thing to see the state of poverty here, while at the same time, people gather together in the coffee shops and hang out on the streets.  There appears to be little incentive to take responsibility for their own lives and improve them.  You almost wonder if this is the same race of men that carved the great cities and institutions of learning out of the wilderness of America; that would later settle and build up the desert wastes of the West to blossom as a rose.  

In the meantime we do the best we can, whatever work we can do in our day, and pray for peace.