|
The photo above was taken by 1st Lieutenant Edwin Anderson, who grew up in the church where I serve. It was published in Task & Purpose as the header for Captain Charlie Anderson’s (no relation) story about the evacuation of Kabul, “How a Few Good ‘Bastards’ [their unit nickname since WWII] from the Army National Guard Helped Secure Kabul Airport.” I recommend the entire long article, and especially found this paragraph blessing my soul:
It was a humbling two weeks. Humbling because all that had been worked for, all the blood that had been shed, seemed in vain. That’s what news articles and social media pundits were saying back home. But as G.K. Chesterton once wrote, hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless, or else it is no virtue at all. Somehow, we all experienced hope, that thing with feathers that perches in the soul, that sings without the words, and never stops at all.
I hear a great deal of hopelessness these days. The feeling is understandable, yet tragically flawed. Even in a fallen world full of evil and heartbreak, there is hope. Do what those National Guardsmen did at Hamid Kharzai airport – put your trust in the Lord and let your heart be courageous.
God bless,
Wayne