WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE THERE

A friend told me the following about Iraq:

I have a story regarding peace from my last deployment that I would share...

To understand the situation you have to try and imagine yourself there. You are in a military uniform and surrounded by other U.S. servicemen (and a few women) in theirs. Many of the Army members have been separated from their families for over a year, and don't even know what month they will be headed home. All in the room realize that they may never see their loved ones again in this life.

You are meeting in an old building with an original purpose that’s impossible to tell. It has been hit with ordnance and there are a few holes in the front of the building, though luckily the room we are in is generally intact. There are even two small windows that are still intact near the top of one wall. Power has long ago been cut to the building, so there is no air conditioning. The air would be overwhelming if you hadn't been there long enough to get used to it. As it is, it is merely stifling. Every so often (once or twice a day usually) the insurgents blow something up or lob something over the outer wall to the base.

Dust is everywhere, on the chairs; the box you are using to hold the sacrament, the floor is covered in it, and of course, all over you. The smell of the dust in this part of the world has a distinct smell...hard to describe; just old. For thousands of years one of the most precious commodities in your area has been water, and that continues. No one in the room has had a shower for some time and your nose can tell, although it has been so long that you are starting to get used to it.

It is too hot to sleep during the day (I saw up to 131 deg) and if you are lucky enough to be EOD, then most nights see you dealing with roadside bombs. You mostly just pass out whenever you get the chance and you are ALWAYS tired. Everyone has at least one gun in the 'chapel' with them. Tucked under chairs or in holsters. It is against the rules to be found without one.

So there you are; hot, dirty, tired, homesick and generally scared. Then one member opens the meeting and you say a prayer, pass the sacrament and someone gives a spiritual thought. Just for a little while, you are at peace. The burdens of life seem lighter when you are reminded, even for a fraction of time, of the reality of our earthly existence. Our elder Brother died so we can have peace, in this life and in the next. Families can be forever and we are all loved by our Eternal Father. You are supposed to be here at this time. You can't control the situation but you can control how you deal with it. You feel rejuvenated and uplifted by your fellow saints and especially by the spirit.

Our minds are funny. We tend to 'edit out' the bad parts of our past, and hold onto the good times. When I think of that deployment, I often gravitate back to those saints in that hot, smelly room filled with the spirit.