My husband and I watched two public broadcasting television programs on D-day over the weekend. They were gut-wrenching eyewitness accounts of that day when the Allies stormed the beaches of France. The individuals interviewed fervently reported that everyone was praying to God and making the sign of the cross. They were all afraid, and, the ones that survived, said they were changed forever.
They recounted moments of personal transformation in light of all the evil in the world. I know the war transformed my father – he talked about it with us. He was on the US John Penn in battle, and it was sunk. His best friend, who was fighting right next to Dad, was hit and killed.
After the war, my dad, who was going to be a business teacher, believed he had a calling from God to serve as a physician. For that generation, his change of heart turned out to not be unique. This is not unlike experiences military women and men serving today experience. One military person on the news said that he is led to “find the next path that’s going to make you feel fulfilled”. This reflects back to servanthood, which I discussed in my last blog.
We all are given gifts – we just have to discover them and find our way. Individuals serving in the military are sometimes forced to realize them in a more dramatic fashion than other people do. Paul, in Ephesians 4:1-2, personally “beg(s) you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.”
As we keep in mind people who have served or currently serve our country this week, remember each of our God-given callings to serve.
Sarah Orton Bowen 