“Truth is heavy, so few men carry it,” is an aphorism I keep in my mental and spiritual rucksack.

Connection to today: Recently we had another suicide of another NCO that is near to many here. As chaplains we invariably are brought into the conversation about the loss of still another warrior, often to try and bring spiritual balm to a sad situation. It does not matter how many books I have read on suicide prevention, how many certifications I have in suicide interdiction and prevention, how many courses I have taught in suicide prevention, etc. The reality is that Soldiers continue to take their own lives, often via violent means. We walk a fine line as chaplains because we are charged with spiritual and religious support for Soldiers and Families, among other responsibilities, but the reality is that few leaders have the courage to address the truth that is being denied in so many areas. We are spiritual beings. But spirituality must have intellectual and visceral content; it cannot be a vague ‘spirituality’ that is impersonal and/or devoid of empirical content.

Wisdom from Francis Schaeffer: This week I reread Schaeffer’s classic work, How Shall We Then Live? In it, Schaeffer cut right to the heart of the issue of what I am addressing here: “Nietzsche knew the tension and despair of modern man (no matter what he says he is), cries out for a meaning that can only be found in the existence of the infinite-personal God, who has not been silent but has spoken, and in the existence of personal life continuing into eternity” (HSWTL?, p. 180).

Encouragement & Application: See what Schaeffer recognized? Man is designed by God for meaning, connection, and significance. Those are all found in the gospel. Why? Because man is not, contrary to secular humanism’s lies, a cosmic accident. He is created in the image of the infinite-personal God. But secularism has no answer for modern man’s hopelessness because it cuts the umbilical cord of man from his Maker, who is God. Man is severed. He is thrust adrift with no means of explaining his own existence. What will it take for us a culture to return to our Creator, Redeemer, and Lord? May we have the intellectual and spiritual courage to admit what is overt. I am just one among many fine chaplains and Soldiers who is long weary of having Soldiers go out this way.