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WHERE
January 24, 2012 IS GOD?
January 24, 2012 WHERE IS GOD?
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Atheists and Foxholes
The old saying asserts that there are no atheists in foxholes. Those who have worked with
combat troops know this is not true.
The prospect of death or serious injury tends to make a person think of what is beyond this
life, and to ponder the existence of a higher power. But Satan has not abandoned the
battlefield as a location in which it is hopeless for him to carry out effective work. It
appears that he has a number of objectives in his drive against combat troops. The first one
is to have them draw the conclusion that there must be no god at all. If this fails, the
secondary objective is sought: the development of the conviction that the higher power
fights against the individual. When either of these objectives is met, mayhem results.
As spiritual physicians who minister to the needs of the souls of those who wear military
uniforms, it helps if we are aware of the methods of the Enemy, and alert to the timing of
his attacks.
It is not necessary for us to have walked miles in combat boots, or to have faced enemy-fire,
before we can carry out the work. We have faced this Enemy before. We have treated
those he has wounded. We have mourned over the spiritual casualties. It’s a matter of
making the correct diagnosis, and prescribing the appropriate medicine—at the proper time,
and in the proper amount.
The circumstances may be different, but the battle is essentially the same. Trauma
intensifies the spiritual experience. But a person need not meet all of the requirements of
being diagnosed with PTSD to be under spiritual attack, and we do not have to be in
Kandahar Province to do our work. Most likely the need, and the opportunity to serve, will
become evident only after the victim has returned to us.
We will take a closer look at the attacks Satan has made upon some combat troops. We will
review some causes and consequences. Our goal is to become better prepared to answer the
cry that has often risen from the bloody fields of war: “Where is God?”
"God hates us all forever!"
1
1
Written on the wall of the compound at COP Restrepo
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Expectations
If I were to begin building my own god, I suspect he would end up looking a lot like me. He
would have my preferences, my standards, and he would meet my expectations.
The Lord of All is not like that. He is not like any of us. Once the human race shared his
likeness. Now, at best, through faith in Jesus we possess only a partial likeness. We are not
God. He reminds us, “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways,’ declares the LORD.”2
We hear what he says. Part of us knows that this is true. But we are still inclined to believe
that he should measure up to a certain standard—a standard that we have set.
We deal with this in the normal flow of life. When he does not act as we wish, when we say
he has not answered our prayer, we tend to become discouraged and frustrated. But we can
overcome this by deciding that we simply needed to pray harder—or, we put the “failure”
out of mind and move on to the next expectation of God.
But sometimes the disparity between our expectations of God and the reality of God’s
actions hit our psyche between the eyes. We become dazed. We begin to reconsider and
re-evaluate the whole God-thing. Trauma can bring this about.
At this point it is important for us to define what we mean by trauma. In recent years we
have probably most often heard the term used in the phrase Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD). The Navy Chaplains Corp introduces the subject this way: “The trauma is a wound
which can create distress in many ‘systems’: physiological, neurological (as well as neuro-
chemical), cognitive, behavioral, emotional, social, psychological and spiritual. PTSD is a
clinical, medical diagnosis. Only a physician or clinical psychiatrist may diagnose a person as
having PTSD, and only if the person exhibits a specific set of symptoms as specified in the
most recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV- Text Revision (American Psychiatric
Association, 2000).
The current definition and explication of PTSD in the DSM-IV-TR does not distinguish those
who are
a victim of or witness to a trauma - such as assault or rape - from those who, like
many service members with combat-related PTSD, may have been a perpetrator of trauma
on another person or persons, such as participating in killing in the midst of combat.”3
In this paper we will define trauma as: 1) A deeply distressing or disturbing experience; 2)
an emotional shock following a stressful event or injury, which may be associated with
physical shock and sometimes leads to long-term neurosis.
We are here not talking about the clinical treatment of PTSD. We have a different field on
2
Isaiah 55:8
3
“Spiritual Care Handbook on PTSD/TBI” pg. 6, published by the Navy Chaplain Corp
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our radar screen. Our primary focus is upon the spiritual, not the mental or physical. But
our consideration is not merely academic. It is likely that we have already encountered, or
will encounter, people who have gone through this spiritual trauma. It shows up not only in
the person returning from the Middle East. A graduate of Northwestern College decided in
1965 that the Lord wanted him to defend his nation in Vietnam rather than continue
studying for the pastoral ministry at our seminary. When he returned from his tours in
Vietnam he felt no desire to attend a seminary. He had reached the conclusion that there
was no god. I have not heard that he has changed his mind on this.
A young funeral director, a “practicing Roman Catholic”, came to this same conclusion in
1976 as casket after military casket brought home the remains of people he had grown up
with in his rather small city.
Satan has often capitalized upon deeply distressing or disturbing experiences. Our mission
is to frustrate his plans. Let’s take a look at a few of his attacks.
Realities
The Death Trap
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His Name is Glenn…4
“Glenn’s unit has been there since January and
he is one of six new artillery guys that arrived
May 10th. Glenn is a gunner on Mrap ATV with
the quick response team. His first day he was
on dismounted patrol and saw a different
world. On his third day when they got a call at dusk that a helicopter spotted the
enemy. Glenn shot and killed a terrorist, maybe more than one. Glenn shared with
me that if it weren’t for the helicopter he wasn’t sure if he would be here. Glenn
called me and what came to my mind was Psalms and David. He is doing OK, it is
what they call hunting season and he was dropped in the middle of it. Glenn has a
lot of buddies to talk with. He asked me to send him a Psalm of the day and love
doing it. He can’t tell me much but Saturday night he called and sounded
worried he had an early mission. Sunday there was a 10 hour gun battle in Khost
and he was there. Glenn says it is crazy over there. Haven’t talked to him in a
couple of days we usually Skype each other. The more prayers for our soldiers the
better. Glenn has his iPod but thank you for the mp3 information.”
“Glenn” fits into the category of people that seem to be more susceptible to trauma on the
battlefield. He is relatively young. This is his first deployment. He was dropped into a
disturbing, confusing, and dangerous situation. It is good to see that he has regular contact
with his mother. But, at the same time, his conversations with her are not typical of
conversations an experienced, war-hardened warrior would have with a mother.
The Trap…
“I would like to share with you in confidence some details so maybe you can help
me guide him. Last week while on patrol the Haqqani terrorist used a civilian
Afghan woman as a trap cut her leg off and Glenn watched her scream for help
4
Email messages, with some editing, received from Glenn’s (not real name) mother over a period of two weeks
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and die. He said he cried and tried to get out the truck to save her but his sergeant
would not let him there were snipers waiting to kill them. Being part of this Quick
response team he is seeing so much. FOB Salerno is called Rocket City and Glenn
says it is true and they are using Mortars now and he is on high alert. Any advice
and bible verses I could send him would be appreciated. Please don’t share that I
told you to Glenn. Thank you for what you do for our Military”
The “crazy” situation grew worse. It can be traumatic to be attacked. It can cause trauma
if you are the one attacking/harming/killing another human. But it is also horrific to watch
someone else suffer and die—especially if you are prevented from helping. The mental
image of this screaming woman continues to plague “Glenn”. The fact that this Soldier did
not want me to know about the incident made me wonder if he felt guilty in some way.
What bothered him most…
“Glenn said he saw the worst thing a human could do to another. Glenn said ‘I saw
an innocent woman die in front of me and I could not get out of my truck to help
her it broke my heart’. Glenn talked to his brother today and has had conversation
with his sergeant on how to deal with this. Glenn shared there were other trucks
with Glenn and one soldier opened the door to help the woman but his
commander physically forced him back. It had to be hard for everyone. Our
helicopter came in and took out the snipers. That might bring some closure for
them. I am thankful to God everyday for Glenn and all the soldiers and praying
they come home safely. Thank you for your email it was very insightful. I did not
think of it as a trauma.”
At the mother’s request, I did not communicate with “Glenn” directly on this event. His
mother relayed my words to her son. After hearing about the Afghan woman I included this
passage among the words to pass along to the young Soldier:
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.” (Isaiah 35:4)
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When the next note came in, I realized that I had misdiagnosed the Soldier’s key problem. I
had thought he was upset that evil could succeed without punishment (since he and his
comrades dared not rescue the woman). I was wrong. He was wondering where God was,
but not for the reason I had assumed.
What was the primary cause for his distress, and what would you have said to him?
Notes:
A Soldier’s Question
“I have a faith issue” the email began. It was from a member of the Army’s Delta Force on
his fourth deployment to the Middle East. He was also newly confirmed.
“I keep asking myself why God would turn away from some of these people over here.” he
continued. Then he told about a 16-year-old Afghan female who had come to him for help
as he was on patrol. Her husband, who recently bought her, had decided that she was not
obeying him. “Since he had this feeling, he decided to cut her ears off and carved her nose
out of her face,” the Soldier explained.
There was more. “She came to us for help since the people of her village thought it was her
fault for his action.”
The note ended with the words, “I try my hardest to think that God does care, but when it
comes to this I wonder how he could let this happen. Thank you for the devotions and
taking time to read this email.”
This was a very brave Soldier in an elite fighting unit that has seen some of the worst that
war has to offer. Many of the enemy have died at his hand. He is highly decorated. He is
tough. But now he is brought face-to-face with a very tough question: “Does God care about
these people?”
He had come to the conclusion that the problem in Afghanistan was not just the Taliban, and
tribal infighting, and corruption. After a long and hard look he decided that God had turned
against them. This, he decided, was the root cause of their miserable situation.
“Does God care?” What answer would we give?
Notes:
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“Someone in our Daily Lives”
"...Everyone began arriving to the hospital within minutes of the explosion. With the
adrenaline pumping and still breathing heavily from running we were set-up in record time.
I was at the head of the red bed ready and waiting. Within five minutes the doors opened
and six guys were carrying someone into the ER. But something was wrong. The patient was
in a black plastic body bag and was zipped closed. What was going on? Why was the bag
closed? We needed to start the resuscitation!
They could see the looks on our faces and told us that it was too late. But it had been less
than ten minutes since the rocket hit. Who was it? They told us and I asked again, not
believing.
It was one of our ICU nurses. He was working the night shift and was walking to the hospital
to start his shift at 1900. He was within ten feet of the impact and died instantly. The same
path everyone takes many times each day. We were stunned.
The entire hospital was now in the ER. Word had spread instantly. No one knew what to
say. I laid my hands on the plastic and could still feel his warmth against my skin even
through my gloves. Once the realization kicked in everyone started crying. Everyone.
Slowly the entire staff crowded around and instinctively laid their hands against the plastic
barrier. Not wanting to let him go. Willing him to stay with us. Dozens of blue gloved hands
stark against the black covering. No one could control their emotions. Silent and not so
silent weeping.
He was one of us. A part of our hospital. Our family. Someone in our daily lives that
everyone knew and loved. His son was turning seven years old tomorrow. This couldn't be.
We just kept standing there, not knowing what to do. Our grief uncontrollable...".
“During surgery the Hero Flight was called. We were desperate to make the ceremony and I
sent a message to the commander asking if he could delay the flight for just a few minutes
to give the OR team a chance to attend. He was one of ours and the crew needed to be
there. We did not need another disappointment tonight. This would be as much for us as it
was for our friend.
While MAJ J. and I settled our patient in the ICU the rest of the crew hurried to the
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ceremony. We followed a few minutes later and were relieved to see we had made it in
time. Our team had reserved two spots for us in the long line in front of the ER. Since this
ceremony was for a member of the CSH (combat support hospital) the procession would
take place in front of the hospital and proceed out to the helicopter flight line instead of
the airfield and a C130.
The night was cool. The blades of a helicopter were turning in
the distance. A slight breeze. No lights anywhere on the FOB. Once the ER doors had swung
closed it was pitch black. Slowly I began to see more and more soldiers as my vision adapted
to the starlight. Across from me there were soldiers four rows deep stretching left and
right as far as I could see. I glanced left and right on my side of the road and saw the same.
Everyone was at attention. No fidgeting. No coughing. Silent. Amazing that hundreds of
soldiers were standing there and all you could hear were faint noises in the distance. I
could now make out green and red glow sticks every ten feet or so outlining the path to the
helicopter pad.
Within just a few minutes "present arms" was called and everyone saluted as the flag
covered body was wheeled slowly past to the waiting Black Hawk in the distance. Unseen in
the darkness the chaplain called for prayer and every soldier in unison knelt on one knee
silently offering a prayer for our fallen brother-in-arms.
Too quickly we were called back to attention and dismissed. Silently, hundreds of soldiers
became shadows and then disappeared into the night to reflect on their own mortality.”
LTC Jerold B. C. CRNA, AN, USAR
Chief,
Department of Anesthesia
FOB Salerno, Afghanistan
Good Friday 2011
Most of the people who now consider this a traumatic event in their life neither saw, heard,
nor smelled something horrible. But they will not forget it. Something about it bothers
them to this day. At least one person is angry with God as a result. Why might that be?
Notes:
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There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
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“There is a Time for Everything…”
Good Friday at Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan
The unexpected calamity, the almost impossible catastrophe that still happens, can
sometimes smash through our emotional defense network with such force that it leaves us
shell-shocked. It makes us wonder if life is a series of random acts, after all.
Notes:
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Restrepo
A Combat Outpost in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan
A film (and book) was produced covering a year with the 2nd Battle Company of the 503rd Infantry Regiment,
173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.
This company saw some of the most sustained and severe fighting of the war.
“Another soldier says he hates the terms ‘you did what you had to do’ because he
doesn't think he really had to do it. Says he doesn't think God will greet him with a playful
punch to the shoulder and say ‘you did what you had to do.’”
“They are brave, fearful, obscene, committed for the wrong reasons, committed for
right reasons, and committed for no reason at all.”
Unsolicited comments about the troops at Restrepo
The terms “confused” and “conflicted” can often apply to both the events of combat and
the people in combat. We should remember that, to a great extent, wars are fought by
young people. They have the advantage of flexibility, strength, endurance, and optimism.
They lack maturity. They are still sorting out priorities in life. Many are still trying to make
sense of life.
They often leave basic training with a sense of being invincible. Further training fosters the
impression. Combat can make mincemeat of all convictions. For some, the only thing they
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can be sure of following combat is that their buddy “had their back”. Everything else is
suspect.
Some slip into a survival mode that puts preservation of self as paramount, and detachment
from others as one way to limit pain and disappointment.
There are those who will look back and say, “God had my back!” Others will not see it this
way. They report him as MIA, or sometimes, even as the enemy.
These troops sometimes reflected a feeling of abandonment. They literally felt they were
trapped in God-forsaken territory. What would we say to them?
Notes:
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From One of Us
“Dear Paul,
My recollections of combat focused very little on sanctification. Our job was to kill the
enemy. Viewing that as a good work can be challenging. What was critical to my thinking
centered on justification. To be assured of life in heaven when and if I was killed was
important. Most of my prayers centered on that.
It would seem to me that materials sent especially to combat troops would take that into
consideration.”
Combat troops usually do not have time to philosophize about much. Troops who are not in
a situation daily where they may have to "kill or be killed" can consider how their role in
the military can help bring about peace. Not so with the infantry. He is working on
dehumanizing the enemy, so that he does not hesitate to kill him when faced with that
predicament. Those of us who were not wounded or killed, although many around us were,
feel guilty about our luck. Some (like Bob Ness) lose faith in a God who could allow the
things they have seen to take place. They reject God. This does not happen
immediately. Bob has dealt with it for years and still does.
I have dealt with the situation by focusing on God's plan He has for all of us. I could
have/should have been killed many times, but I was not. Some of my men were not so
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fortunate. I know that God has used me for His purposes since I left Vietnam. I have been
rewarded many times over while I was in the Army, served Governor Thompson, or taught
at Luther Prep. I continue to be blessed each day.
There is a price to pay for surviving the war zone. PTSD, according to the VA "shrinks," has
made me 30% "disabled;" Bob is 100%.
I just want you to be aware that approaching support troops and combat troops are two,
significantly different things. It is not an easy task; nor do I have any "pat" answers or
suggestions. The life of a soldier is unique.
Best wishes, Erhard Opsahl”
The note above and the note below are from warriors who have answered the question of
where God was during combat. Colonel Opsahl (later Prof. Opsahl) had the advantage of
pastoral training courses in his background. But then, so did his classmate, Bob. If you were
to sit down and talk with Opsahl about his Vietnam experiences, you would discover that he
did not breeze through traumatic events, nor has he outgrown all of the damage.
The note below is from an average WELS warrior. He has gained experience. He has
survived trauma. He has come to be at peace with himself—for a time, at least.
“From Feelings of Loss to Feelings on Being Just”
“Chaplain,
I have been reading your sermons throughout my deployment to Iraq. I am near the end of
my time overseas and am looking forward to going home shortly. I have been fortunate to
have received the word of God through you and thank you for your continued work.
This Sermon hits the nail on the head. The same aspects God wants us to be able to defend
against evil is what my men and I came up with during the first year in the Iraq War. We
had three major and two minor direct fire engagements. A couple of them were ambushes.
My platoon was fortunate enough to not have anybody wounded from these actions but at
the same time a sadness fell inside of most of us for having taken the lives of those who
ambushed us. In some cases we did so swiftly. I made it a point to sit down and talk
through/ review our mission and objectives. Then ask the questions of whether we met our
mission requirements or not. I also would ask if anyone felt as bad as I did after operations
were complete about having killed others. Normally most felt the same.
Between myself and my Platoon Sergeant, we led dialogue to transport feelings of loss to
feelings of being just. My Platoon Sergeant said it best when he softly stated, "In the end it
is us or them... they attacked us and are labeling themselves as a target... we protected
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our commander and each other from the ambush which means we had to kill them to stop
them." He was right; just as you are pointing out what God would think and what the
righteous think.”
Notes:
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Evil fills a vacuum
If the conclusion is drawn that the righteous and holy God is not present, we can expect that
evil has filled the vacuum. At best, the person will resort to a level of morality that reflects
his understanding of the situation, and his conscience. At worst, thoughts of right or wrong
are discarded. Hatred, revenge, greed, lust, and similar fruits of the satanic side of human
nature take over.
We might wonder how the Nazis, some who sung Luther’s hymns from memory, and had
“Gott mit Uns” on their belt buckles, could have committed the atrocities they did.
We understand the dehumanizing of the enemy that takes place in war, even if we have
reservations about it. “Hun”, “Kraut”, “Charlie”, and “Haji” are just a few of the names
that have been used to mark off a portion of the world’s population as somewhat less than
deserving of being treated humanely.
We have seen pictures of Americans posing with a grin above a pile of people stripped naked
in a prison. We have seen them desecrating corpses with their urine.
We say there is no honor in this. We say there is no excuse for this. But it can get worse.
For Satan, it is not enough that people are ridiculed or shamed. Torture, rape, and murder
are on his list of objectives.
We dare not begin suspecting our returning troops of having committed horrendous crimes.
But, we need to be aware that such atrocities do take place, and American troops have not
always returned home with clean hands.
Like a doctor who sees some indicators of cancer, we cannot ignore signs that the cause of
the trauma in the person we are treating may be more repulsive than we wish to face.
Bottom line ministry
I agree with Opsahl that ministry to the military is not easy, and that there are no pat
answers. Unlike typical parish ministry, we often are working with people that we do not
know well—whose world is even less familiar to us. The Special Forces maxim, “Improvise!
Adapt! Overcome!” applies in spades to those situations.
Working with veterans or active-duty personnel who will be Stateside for a while, gives us
the advantage of time to develop a relationship. The email, or Skype visit, or phone call
that comes from an unknown warrior in a hot zone who will have to go outside the wire
again in a few hours, stems from a relationship that already exists.
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And, what relationship is that? Most likely it is built upon the fact that you have been
identified as a WELS Military Contact Pastor (Civilian Chaplain). For this person, even if he
or she has never met you, that identification is significant. One Marine put it this way,
“You’re going to tell me what God has to say. Right?”
Our answer is a heartfelt: “Right!” It dare be nothing else.
It ends up being a matter of Law and Gospel, sin and salvation. But, knowing how best to
apply this powerful medicine is what we pray often about. We cannot spray the target with
our powerful weapon, hoping to hit the right spot in the process. It must be a surgical
strike.
Where and how is the Enemy attacking this person? Is he being tempted to believe that he
can never be forgiven, or is he being led to believe he needs no forgiveness? Is he
challenging God, or is he running from God? Is he searching for answers, or looking for
excuses?
Our heart goes out to the person looking at a bloody battlefield and asking, “Where is God?”
It may be an act of defiance. It may be meant as a rejection of us, of our ministry, and
everything that we stand for. But, in the end, isn’t that what our ministry is all about? Isn’t
it our mission to tell people where God is?
The physician may tell the little child with a piece of glass in his hand, “This is going to hurt
a little bit.” But the reason for inflicting additional pain is to remove the cause of the pain.
He would be negligent if he gave the child a pain pill and a cookie, and sent him on his way.
The Law causes pain. But, it is necessary pain. The person who is like Job’s friends needs
to face the reality that God owes no one anything. Good works will not buy his favor. The
person who is like Job needs to face the reality that the Lord God is inscrutable. We cannot
understand his ways. We have to take him at his word.
When Job said: “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him”5 he was responding to an eternal
truth. It was his trust in the incomprehensible God that provided the answer to his
questions.
Job knew the gospel, the astounding, incomprehensible news that the holy God loves,
forgives, and rescues the damned.
He is h¶Dwøh◊y. He is who he is, with no restrictions, no explanations needed. He is
God, and believe it or not, like it or not, he is everywhere.
--Paul C. Ziemer
5
Job 13:15
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