This is what a church can do when they are willing to step up and do the work of a true believer. All religions demand action, not just attending worship services or putting in money in the collection plate, but actually doing the work the needs to be done to help heal their communities.
I traveled locally for several months trying to get local churches in Central Florida to step up to help the veterans heal from what they had to go through. Only one responded and the pastor of the church happened to be a Chaplain as well.
Houses of worship, no matter what faith they belong to, have a responsibility to go beyond just spreading a weekly message from the pulpit. When a warrior returns from combat, they need help to heal and when they do not receive it, they suffer, their families suffer, relatives suffer, friends suffer and the community as a whole suffers. This is a time of great need for communities across this nation. Too many forget that while they do not have a military base, they do have National Guards and Reservists serving or have served in Iraq or Afghanistan along with veterans from other wars.
When you think that at a time when all houses of worship should be growing, far too many leave them because the need is not being met. If houses of worship refuse to address the needs of their communities, they are not serving God.
When the spiritual needs of the veterans are being tended to, there are miracles happening everyday. Veterans are able to reconnect to God, find forgiveness for whatever they feel they need to be forgiven for, awaken their spiritual core, heal marriages, rebuild relationships with their families and most will then turn to help others heal with the peace they have found inside.
This wound has been documented throughout history from ancient Greek and Roman writers and from the Bible itself. All cultures have had ways of healing after combat with rituals for "cleansing" the spirit. If you think that God wants nothing to do with them, think again. Here is just one example but you can find more when you read from the Old Testament Judges and Kings along with the writings from King David.
When God was about to create the souls of man, He first created a warrior. The need to protect because of the freewill God would be enabling would take a great warrior to accomplish this. God created it in the Archangel Michael. Michael is acknowledged through the major religions. The people who serve, willing to lay down their lives for the sake of others, hold Michael as their Patron Saint. While God created a warrior before He even created mankind, how could anyone, especially members of the clergy, forget that defending others is one of the most noblest calling of all?
In our core, there are established abilities from God's hand. Some are called to serve as preachers, others are called to serve their communities. When it comes to those who serve in the military or in the police and fire departments, again there is the ability within their core. When they choose to enter into the military, they do so willing to risk their lives for the sake of others, but they are also enabled to take a life when necessary. It is the same with members of the police forces. They are enabled with bravery and commitment to do all that is required.
When people enter into the National Guards and Reservists ranks, again they are enabled within their core to be able to save lives. They are willing to risk their own lives in order to save someone else, but in their core, they are not as able to take a life. It is the same thoughts of those who enter into the fire departments and emergency response groups. At their core is the same bravery as the military but when they have to take another life or see the deaths in combat, they have a harder time. The thought of having to kill is absent when they enter into the National Guards. The ability to do it and cope after is not within them as much as it is within those who enter into the regular military. Events have penetrated their core. They need extra help to heal as they return to the civilian world.
While all need help to heal, some need it more than others. This is a time when the psychiatric community and the spiritual communities should be mobilizing their efforts to address the needs of the mind-body-spirit since these three elements are within each human. One by one, churches are stepping up but it is a slow process and still the vast majority of them remain ignorant to the needs of their own congregations. If you attend a church, contact your own pastor and make them aware of what this church is doing and what the need is. Convince them to do something to help those who serve all in this nation.
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Programs to focus on stress disorder from war
Stow Sentry - Stow,Ohio,USA
Warriors Journey Home Ministry (WJHM) of First Congregational Church of Tallmadge will be host to a week of activities focused on the community's response to post traumatic stress disorder resulting from war.
Dr. Edward Tick, founder of Soldier's Heart in Albany, N.Y., is an international speaker and author of "War and The Soul" will be present at all events as the workshop leader, retreat leader and speaker.
Psycho-spiritual Approach to the Treatment of PTSD
Soldier’s Heart Has Gathered a Community!
By Kate Dahlstedt, co-director of Soldier’s Heart
Community plays an integral part in healing our veterans. Just as “it takes a village to raise a child,” it also takes a village to transform a soldier into a warrior. When a nation is at war ideally the whole community is involved - not just soldiers and their loved ones. Otherwise we risk alienating and isolating the very people who are making the greatest sacrifice.
As Soldier’s Heart has unfolded people from all over the country have reached out to ask, “What can I do?” Many of these are helping professionals offering their skills and devotion. Others are concerned and compassionate citizens. The outpouring of gifts, services and monetary support for our Veterans Return Retreat last January exemplified the desire of citizens to give back to military service people.
There are innumerable ways we can contribute to helping veterans reintegrate well on their return from the war zone and support their families while they are gone. These can be as diverse as vendors giving free or discounted goods and services (car repair, child care, gasoline, tutoring, hair cuts, household services, etc.) to military families. People from the community can volunteer to do household chores such as shovel the walks and mow the lawns of military families living in our neighborhoods.
Beyond this kind of giving, church groups and community organizations can offer emotional and spiritual support. This doesn’t require professionals or specialists. All of us are able to lend a compassionate ear. A hallmark of the healing arts teaches us that storytelling is essential to healing; storytelling to those who can really listen, feel the truth of what is shared, refrain from judging and agree to help carry the story in their hearts.
Over and over again we hear from veterans that their healing became possible when they could finally let out the truth of their experiences and have it received by the rest of the community with love and respect. Once a community agrees to carry the stories and the emotional burden they evoke veterans can release the shame, guilt and horror of what they have been through. Honored as chief witnesses to the realities of war, our veterans can transform from wounded soldiers to embrace the identity of the True Warrior.
Ed’s work in the last year has spread this message to communities throughout the country. These communities have, in turn, begun to address the soul needs of their veterans with a better understanding. As we prepare to celebrate Soldier’s Heart’s first year anniversary, we feel gratitude for all of the wonderful and inspiring people we have met along the way, people who have led us, one to another, to form a great circle. People from all walks of life are coming together in a united mission to help our veterans return and claim their true identities as warriors.
These newsletter pages are a gathering place. All of you are welcome to submit articles about what you are doing in your own towns and cities. Together, from all over our nation, we support and encourage, challenge and inspire each other. Together we are “the village.”
for more information, go here
http://www.soldiersheart.net/Newsletters/SHNewsletter-4-07.pdf
