PTSD SOS TO CLERGY

CALL TO CLERGY: Chaplain John Morris has started a program, "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon," to help reintegrate combat soldiers.
BECKY OLSTAD/SPECIAL TO THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

Backstory: Enlisting churches to help soldiers
A military chaplain in Minnesota encourages clergy to act as counselors to National Guard troops returning from Iraq.
September 25, 2006 edition
By Sean J. Miller Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

MINNEAPOLIS –
John Morris, a military chaplain, stands at the front of a crowded conference room dressed in desert fatigues and tan combat boots, commanding his audience's attention with a tone barely above a whisper. Addressing some 30 Minnesota church leaders, Major Morris opens with a story about his time in Anbar Province, an insurgent stronghold in western Iraq.

"When the insurgents found out a new unit was there, they would walk a child in front of our convoys," he recalls. "What does a good Minnesota person do? Stop. You only do that one time, because you get ambushed and someone gets maimed or killed."


It's a chilling story, which Morris heard from numerous soldiers in combat, meant to convey the reality of war - and the kind of psychological stress soldiers go through in the field and when they come home.


Morris is on a mission. Since returning from the Middle East, the deputy state chaplain of the Minnesota Army National Guard has labored to convince members of Minnesota's religious community - many of whom oppose the war - to support the soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. More than that, he wants them to be frontline counselors and comforters.

"Sociologists or psychologists - they're great, they're helpful," Morris tells the audience. "But when I get to this issue, I have to always tell them, 'I'm sorry but there are people better qualified than you to handle this: religious leaders.' You're the healers. You bring reconciliation."
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http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0925/p20s01-lire.html

Luke 10
Jesus Sends Out the Seventytwo
1 After this the Lord appointed 72 others. He sent them out two by two ahead of him. They went to every town and place where he was about to go.
2 He told them, "The harvest is huge, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=49&chapter=10&version=76



It is by no accident The Story of the Good Samaritan appears right after this event in Luke. The Good Samaritan saw a man in the road and did not want to know more than the fact this man needed help. He didn't want to know how he voted. He didn't want to know what faith he practiced. He didn't want to know anything more than the need the man had and he took care of him without even knowing his name.

Why can't pastors do the same? They want to tend to their own flock, yet ignore the needs of the community their flock belongs to. They want to ignore the suffering of the wounded men and women who go to war serving this nation, doing what this nation asks of them because they were called to defend this nation. It is no less of a calling than the pastors and priests have and no less worthy. Have they all forgotten the history of how Christianity was begun and spread? It was not with spread with peace alone. The nations of the ancient world had to be defended. Yes, there were very dark times in the history of Christianity they would like to forget because the crusades along with other events bear no resemblance to Christ or His message, but they are nonetheless part of it.

The soul wounded by warfare is recorded in the Bible they all studied. It is recorded in every history book and can be found in the writings of ancient Greek and Roman historians. Unless you've lived in a cave, you've come into contact with terror in one form or another. So how is it when you try to talk to members of the clergy about PTSD and the need to help, their eyes glaze over and they roll them while they try to change the subject?

I spent two weeks driving to some really large churches here in Central Florida, trying to get members of the clergy involved with the need of these men and women. When the mind, body and spirit are tended to, miracles happen, families are restored and healing is tremendous. I couldn't get past the receptionist. One pastor called me back and he happened to be a Chaplain as well. That is appalling! I worked for a church for two years as administrator of Christian Education and couldn't get the pastors educated on what I've spent over half my life doing.

For a while I thought about the difference between Chaplains and pastors. While they work out of a building, Chaplains work in the world. Maybe that's why we have a greater understanding of the needs of the people instead of the needs of just the select few who go to church once a week? I don't know. What I do know is the mission of those who have been called to serve Christ as a Christian or serve God as a member of any other faith, the mission is to serve all of God's children. Read the Ten Commandments and then tell me this is not the case.

These religious leaders had better start opening their minds and the doors to their churches to all of those who serve this nation and their families or those doors will end up being closed by the One they were opened for. Did they forget how Christ sent out the disciples to heal? They still have not gotten the message and this piece came out in September of 2006! When will they hear this urgent call to help the men and women who serve this nation?