Frozen in Time
Part Two
Joe went through the motions as the flight and transportation arrangements were being made in his behalf, but he was mentally in shock, struggling to process the dreadful notification he had received.
Once he had returned to his main base, away from the combat zone, he would be allowed to contact home by making a cell phone call, or send an email message.
But who would he call?
His father, had always been the silent, strong one, on whose guidance and support his family relied. Now he lay motionless in a medically induced coma.
His mother would have the younger siblings for whatever comfort they might be able to offer, as they dealt with their own grief.
Jane, Joe’s one and only confidant, was gone.
Joe’s military comrades were back at the base and or out on a mission in the field.
For the first time in years, Joe felt all alone.
The travel arrangements involved a ride to a commercial airport from the base in a military vehicle. It would be an 18 hour flight in a commercial airline, followed by an 8 hour bus trip. He would make use of an Uber driver for transportation to his parent’s home.
Being in uniform, he caught the attention of his fellow passengers as he boarded the airliner.
Some gave him an appreciative nod, whereas others gave him a cold stare, expressing their disapproval of the current USA’s military involvement in foreign affairs.
This brought to mind stories that his father had told him about the reception that many veterans in his generation received upon returning from service in Viet Nam.
He took his assigned window seat, after squeezing past two, somewhat annoyed, passengers seated in the middle and aisle seats in the same row.
About two hours into the flight, the communication silence was broken.
The flight was headed for Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts in the USA. The passenger in the middle seat on the side of Joe, observing Joe’s uniform, concluded he was returning home, being on a commercial flight, and asked Joe if this was so.
Joe paused for a moment, and then explained the reason for his trip. His words and tone of voice betrayed the pain, the sorrow, and even the anger, that he was trying to suppress. The inquisitive passenger caught on rather quickly that Joe was not in the mood for much conversation.
Soldiers and “real men” (he thought) did not weep, and Christians, he had been told, accept everything that happens as an expression of God’s direct or permissive will.
He knew that if Jane, his one true confidant, could speak with him, she would remind him that Jesus wept, and that God works out all things for the good for those who put God, and the things of God, first on their list of priorities.
Again, Joe wished he had the peace, the confidence, and the unwavering faith that Jane had developed and displayed throughout the course of her post salvation spiritual life.
The rest of the trip home was uneventful. Joe arrived at his parent’s house late at night. He did what he could to console his grieving mother, and surviving siblings. He would go to his father’s hospital bedside in the morning, but there didn’t seem to be much he could say or do for him. Doctors said there was hope, but time would tell what God had in store for him. As Jane would say, it was in God’s hands.
Jane’s funeral took place the next day.
The pastor of the local assembly gave the eulogy, speaking well of Jane’s unwavering faith, and that she was now home with the Lord in Heaven. These words seemed to bring some consolation and encouragement to many of those present, while others pondered their own eternal destination.
In the days that followed, Joe did all he could to see to it that his family would be taken care of after he returned to service.
Now, there were only a few days left of Joe’s leave. There was one more matter that Joe was compelled to address.
The drunk driver, Billy Foster, Age 21, who was responsible for the crash, had been charged with motor vehicle homicide, and was out on bail on home confinement. He had an ankle sensor, to insure his confinement while he awaited trial.
As a condition of his bail, he was forbidden to initiate any direct or indirect contact with any member of Anderson family.
Foster was less than a mile from home when he fell asleep behind the wheel that night, after a night of drinking with “friends” at a local sports bar. These “friends” did nothing to dissuade Billy from driving home is his obviously intoxicated condition.
The media had raised the issue of liability on the part of the bartender and the owners of the bar, but nothing official became of it.
Foster did display tearful remorse at his arraignment, but this was not going to bring Jane, Joe’s lifelong confidant, back to him.
On the way to Foster’s apartment, Joe was filled with mixed emotions.
On the one hand, he felt revengeful anger, but on the other hand, he could not deny how many times he himself had driven back to his base after a night of heavy drinking with his off duty comrades.
Joe wasn’t even sure why he felt so driven to come face to face with Foster, but he knew he wasn’t ready to leave until he did.
Joe pulled off to the side of the road to collect his thoughts and decide what he was going to do next. It wasn’t like him to go into action without, at the very least, having a clear objective and the rules of engagement established in his mind.
As he sat there, he recalled that on more than one occasion some people have reported seeing and being comforted by a recently departed love one.
What he would give to have such an encounter with Jane, but that was not going to happen. He saw no vision and heard no audible voice, but was convinced that he had a message to convey to Billy Foster.
Joe knocked on the door to Billy’s apartment. Several minutes passed before Billy came to the door.
“Open up, you (expletive),” Joe demanded, “I know you have to be in there!”.
Joe introduced himself and was reluctantly allowed into the apartment by Billy, after being told that he would not be harmed.
Joe entered the apartment with his “combat” face on, grabbed a hold of Billy and pinned him up against the wall. But after what seemed like forever, released his grip and said, “I don’t understand it, but Jane would want you to know that if she were here, she would tell you that she forgives you.”
Billy was shocked, but somewhat relieved to hear what Joe had to say. Forgiveness was the last thing he expected from the community or any member of the Anderson family.
There was nothing more for Joe to say or do, so Joe was on his way.
He would stop by his father’s silent hospital bedside, and see his mother and other family members one more time before leaving, but would then be on his way to be reunited with his deployed unit.
The long return trip afforded Joe the opportunity to conduct a long overdue 2Cor. 13: 5 examination to answer a question that had been laying heavily on his mind.
He and Jane were raised in the same home and attended the same local assembly. They were both born again, Heaven bound believers.
Yet, Jane had developed a sense of peace, confidence, and commitment to her daily walk with the Lord that no amount of prosperity or adversity could shake.
Joe wanted to know what it was that she had going for herself that he was lacking.
His thoughts brought him back to the night before his last deployment, when the family had gathered together and listened to the televised presentation by the popular evangelist.
A Google search provided him with a video tape recording of the televised event. With hours to kill, he decided to watch the presentation again.
It wasn’t the reiteration of the unadulterated Gospel Message that moved him. He had been a born again believer as far back as he could remember.
It was the evangelist’s closing comments about the need for a born again believer to take in the Word of God on a daily basis, throughout the course of his or her post salvation spiritual life that hit him personally.
“Without doing so,” the evangelist said, “one will not advance or maintain a level of spiritual maturity. Nor will one reap either the earthly or the eternal benefits that go along with spiritual maturity.
The evangelist went on to say that by not feeding one’s soul, he or she would not only fail to reach or to maintain spiritual maturity, but like a starved man in the natural realm, he or she would become weak, vulnerable, and dysfunctional in the realm of spiritual combat, especially in the midst of the storms of life.
Being a veteran of conventional warfare, Joe understood the need for training and logistical support of troops in combat, but had never made the spiritual application. He never thought of his daily life being a battlefield in the spiritual realm.
It was as if a bright light had come in a dark corner of Joe’s mind. This had been the difference between he and Jane.
From that day forward, the daily intake and application of the Word of God became increasingly as much of a desire as was the food for his body.
Spiritual maturity, unlike salvation that is instantaneously completed, takes time.
Over time, his comrades could see the change that was taking place in Joe. He was efficient as ever in his military duties, but was developing a sense of peace that some of his comrades would soon come to envy, and seek for themselves.
The End
Part Two
Joe went through the motions as the flight and transportation arrangements were being made in his behalf, but he was mentally in shock, struggling to process the dreadful notification he had received.
Once he had returned to his main base, away from the combat zone, he would be allowed to contact home by making a cell phone call, or send an email message.
But who would he call?
His father, had always been the silent, strong one, on whose guidance and support his family relied. Now he lay motionless in a medically induced coma.
His mother would have the younger siblings for whatever comfort they might be able to offer, as they dealt with their own grief.
Jane, Joe’s one and only confidant, was gone.
Joe’s military comrades were back at the base and or out on a mission in the field.
For the first time in years, Joe felt all alone.
The travel arrangements involved a ride to a commercial airport from the base in a military vehicle. It would be an 18 hour flight in a commercial airline, followed by an 8 hour bus trip. He would make use of an Uber driver for transportation to his parent’s home.
Being in uniform, he caught the attention of his fellow passengers as he boarded the airliner.
Some gave him an appreciative nod, whereas others gave him a cold stare, expressing their disapproval of the current USA’s military involvement in foreign affairs.
This brought to mind stories that his father had told him about the reception that many veterans in his generation received upon returning from service in Viet Nam.
He took his assigned window seat, after squeezing past two, somewhat annoyed, passengers seated in the middle and aisle seats in the same row.
About two hours into the flight, the communication silence was broken.
The flight was headed for Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts in the USA. The passenger in the middle seat on the side of Joe, observing Joe’s uniform, concluded he was returning home, being on a commercial flight, and asked Joe if this was so.
Joe paused for a moment, and then explained the reason for his trip. His words and tone of voice betrayed the pain, the sorrow, and even the anger, that he was trying to suppress. The inquisitive passenger caught on rather quickly that Joe was not in the mood for much conversation.
Soldiers and “real men” (he thought) did not weep, and Christians, he had been told, accept everything that happens as an expression of God’s direct or permissive will.
He knew that if Jane, his one true confidant, could speak with him, she would remind him that Jesus wept, and that God works out all things for the good for those who put God, and the things of God, first on their list of priorities.
Again, Joe wished he had the peace, the confidence, and the unwavering faith that Jane had developed and displayed throughout the course of her post salvation spiritual life.
The rest of the trip home was uneventful. Joe arrived at his parent’s house late at night. He did what he could to console his grieving mother, and surviving siblings. He would go to his father’s hospital bedside in the morning, but there didn’t seem to be much he could say or do for him. Doctors said there was hope, but time would tell what God had in store for him. As Jane would say, it was in God’s hands.
Jane’s funeral took place the next day.
The pastor of the local assembly gave the eulogy, speaking well of Jane’s unwavering faith, and that she was now home with the Lord in Heaven. These words seemed to bring some consolation and encouragement to many of those present, while others pondered their own eternal destination.
In the days that followed, Joe did all he could to see to it that his family would be taken care of after he returned to service.
Now, there were only a few days left of Joe’s leave. There was one more matter that Joe was compelled to address.
The drunk driver, Billy Foster, Age 21, who was responsible for the crash, had been charged with motor vehicle homicide, and was out on bail on home confinement. He had an ankle sensor, to insure his confinement while he awaited trial.
As a condition of his bail, he was forbidden to initiate any direct or indirect contact with any member of Anderson family.
Foster was less than a mile from home when he fell asleep behind the wheel that night, after a night of drinking with “friends” at a local sports bar. These “friends” did nothing to dissuade Billy from driving home is his obviously intoxicated condition.
The media had raised the issue of liability on the part of the bartender and the owners of the bar, but nothing official became of it.
Foster did display tearful remorse at his arraignment, but this was not going to bring Jane, Joe’s lifelong confidant, back to him.
On the way to Foster’s apartment, Joe was filled with mixed emotions.
On the one hand, he felt revengeful anger, but on the other hand, he could not deny how many times he himself had driven back to his base after a night of heavy drinking with his off duty comrades.
Joe wasn’t even sure why he felt so driven to come face to face with Foster, but he knew he wasn’t ready to leave until he did.
Joe pulled off to the side of the road to collect his thoughts and decide what he was going to do next. It wasn’t like him to go into action without, at the very least, having a clear objective and the rules of engagement established in his mind.
As he sat there, he recalled that on more than one occasion some people have reported seeing and being comforted by a recently departed love one.
What he would give to have such an encounter with Jane, but that was not going to happen. He saw no vision and heard no audible voice, but was convinced that he had a message to convey to Billy Foster.
Joe knocked on the door to Billy’s apartment. Several minutes passed before Billy came to the door.
“Open up, you (expletive),” Joe demanded, “I know you have to be in there!”.
Joe introduced himself and was reluctantly allowed into the apartment by Billy, after being told that he would not be harmed.
Joe entered the apartment with his “combat” face on, grabbed a hold of Billy and pinned him up against the wall. But after what seemed like forever, released his grip and said, “I don’t understand it, but Jane would want you to know that if she were here, she would tell you that she forgives you.”
Billy was shocked, but somewhat relieved to hear what Joe had to say. Forgiveness was the last thing he expected from the community or any member of the Anderson family.
There was nothing more for Joe to say or do, so Joe was on his way.
He would stop by his father’s silent hospital bedside, and see his mother and other family members one more time before leaving, but would then be on his way to be reunited with his deployed unit.
The long return trip afforded Joe the opportunity to conduct a long overdue 2Cor. 13: 5 examination to answer a question that had been laying heavily on his mind.
He and Jane were raised in the same home and attended the same local assembly. They were both born again, Heaven bound believers.
Yet, Jane had developed a sense of peace, confidence, and commitment to her daily walk with the Lord that no amount of prosperity or adversity could shake.
Joe wanted to know what it was that she had going for herself that he was lacking.
His thoughts brought him back to the night before his last deployment, when the family had gathered together and listened to the televised presentation by the popular evangelist.
A Google search provided him with a video tape recording of the televised event. With hours to kill, he decided to watch the presentation again.
It wasn’t the reiteration of the unadulterated Gospel Message that moved him. He had been a born again believer as far back as he could remember.
It was the evangelist’s closing comments about the need for a born again believer to take in the Word of God on a daily basis, throughout the course of his or her post salvation spiritual life that hit him personally.
“Without doing so,” the evangelist said, “one will not advance or maintain a level of spiritual maturity. Nor will one reap either the earthly or the eternal benefits that go along with spiritual maturity.
The evangelist went on to say that by not feeding one’s soul, he or she would not only fail to reach or to maintain spiritual maturity, but like a starved man in the natural realm, he or she would become weak, vulnerable, and dysfunctional in the realm of spiritual combat, especially in the midst of the storms of life.
Being a veteran of conventional warfare, Joe understood the need for training and logistical support of troops in combat, but had never made the spiritual application. He never thought of his daily life being a battlefield in the spiritual realm.
It was as if a bright light had come in a dark corner of Joe’s mind. This had been the difference between he and Jane.
From that day forward, the daily intake and application of the Word of God became increasingly as much of a desire as was the food for his body.
Spiritual maturity, unlike salvation that is instantaneously completed, takes time.
Over time, his comrades could see the change that was taking place in Joe. He was efficient as ever in his military duties, but was developing a sense of peace that some of his comrades would soon come to envy, and seek for themselves.
The End
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