TRYING TO FINISH THE THOUGHT

I keep waking up not being able to breathe and with a hacking cough when the meds wear off.  Really thought I had kicked this upper respiratory thing, but not yet.  Have every confidence in the Lord that I will be fine soon, but sometimes the waiting makes me impatient.  That's a bit like that joke-prayer, "Lord, give me patience and give it to me RIGHT NOW!!"

That reminds me of being at USAF Officer Training School and practicing for our commissioning parade.  Imagine that there are four hundred people in uniform standing in formation.  In order to form up for the parade, each group of forty officer candidates is in exactly the right place.  Back in quarters someone in charge of each group has spoken a set of commands that starts, "Fall out.  Fall in.  Two lines centered on me. . . ."

We couldn't go out of any building unless there were at least two of us, and we had to march in formation wherever we went outside.  We took turns being in command of the flight we belonged to, and over the course of the ninety days we were transformed from civilians or enlisted people into officers of the United States.

Each flight had about twenty people.  Each squadron had at least four flights.  One fifth of the officer candidates were women, sprinkled around the corps.  They told us at the beginning that there would be people who would not make it.  Either they would be dis-enrolled for not passing every test, or they would find out that becoming an Air Force officer was not for them.

Everything was done according to a schedule and we had to arrive or depart from whatever we were doing within two minutes either side of the scheduled time.

So back to the parade practices.

As I am sure you have seen in movies, or have experienced in person if you are or were in the military, the parade ground is a big rectangle with bleachers  on one long side, a set of flag poles on the other long side, and open space on the short sides.  As we formed up to march, there was always a time when we would march in half steps so that the commanders could make sure that each column was straight, so that each officer candidate in every line was shoulder to shoulder with the others in the line, so that each squadron was the proper distance from the one in front of it.

The band was tuned up, or the PA was blasting the music, if we were just practicing.

Everything happened on cue.

The whole company of squadrons was lined up on the bleacher side of the parade ground, facing the short line of the rectangle on the west.  As the music came to the right place, the order to begin to march in half-step was given.  As we moved together in that mincing stride, there was an excruciating impatience for the point when we could march full-stride.

Our flight was part of the second squadron.  We followed the first squadron and there were three squadrons formed up behind us, each with the same amount of a space between them. The first line of the first squadron was about ten yards from the corner of the parade ground on the lower right if you were sitting in the bleachers.

When the whole company was lined up properly and the music began, the individuals in first squadron began to half-step march along the western edge of the parade ground.  Then each squadron in turn began to half-step as well.   As  we watched the first squadron make the right turn, I was kind of reminded of when you are on a train that goes around a bend and you can look out the window and see the engine and every train car ahead you moving in curve in front of you.

As we all half-stepped counter-clockwise toward the north end of the parade ground, finally we were given the order to march full-step.  The feeling of relief to be able to make a full stride washed over us, and the rest of the commissioning ceremony followed on the first movement to fulfillment.

So right now I feel like I am stuck in that half-stepping mode, yearning for the music to change in order to be able to step out un-restrained.

When you march, you have to listen very closely for each well-known command.  As each person executes every command in the proper way, the whole company with each element moves in complete harmony.

But it takes a lot of practice.

In our spiritual lives we have to practice, too. The Lord has helped me with this in many ways including through reading the book about the French monk named Brother Lawrence called "Practice the Presence of God."

You can find it online to read or to listen to --

A downloadable PDF file: 
Brother Lawrence Download PDF

Practice the Presence of God Audio Book Link:

Practice the Presence of God

And I am reminded of the passage from Isaiah 30:21 -- " Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

I listen for the voice of my Commander and I try my best to execute each command the correct way at the right time.

At USAF Officer Training School there were a lot of practices, but there was only one commissioning parade for each class.  Every six weeks the members of a new class of officer candidates were commissioned.  We were spectators at the parade for the class before us.  The class we helped to bring along behind us watched our parade half-way through their time at the school.

In our lives, too, we watch the generations before us, our grand-parents and out parents.  Our children and our grandchildren watch us.

We learn and grow.  Sometimes we get things right, and sometimes we fail.  God knew what would happen in our lives before we came to Earth. (" . . . all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:16b)

As we continue our relationship with the Love that created us, nurtures us, accompanies us, guards us and guides us, we get to know that Love in intimate ways.

My hope for you this morning, Beloved, is that each day you are getting to know God Who is Love in deeper ways.  The more we can allow God to bless us and help us, the more we are able to bless and help the people in our lives.

Hope you have a good Monday and a lovely week.