Duty and Honor

September 19, 2003, Hurricane Isabel bore down upon Fort Myer located in Arlington. Fort Myer is the home the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) conducts memorial affairs to honor our fallen comrades and ceremonies and special events to represent the Army. If you visit the Arlington National Cemetery, you will have the honor to watch these soldiers in action as they guard the Tomb of the Unknowns.

The Regimental Commander sent word to the nighttime Sentry Detail to secure the post and seek shelter from the high winds in order to ensure their personal safety. Those soldiers chose to disobey this order. They stood their post in the face of the storm. That evening, the winds from Isabel were strong enough to flip vehicles and turned debris into projectiles. One soldier was quoted as saying, “I’ve got buddies getting shot in Iraq who would kick my butt if word got to them that we let them down. I’m sure as hell have no intention of spending my Army career being known as the idiot who couldn’t stand a little light breeze and shirked his duty.”

1 Peter 2:9 declares that those who follow Christ “are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” I do not take lightly the calling that has been placed upon the followers of Christ that we are indeed a priesthood of believers. In ancient Israel, the temple priests were charged to ensure that the word of God stood as the primary guidepost for the people. The priests were in a sense the standard bearers for all that God asked of His people.

In my short time in this life, I have come to realize that storms are going to occur. I was able to witness first hand the destruction of a storm as I spent several weeks helping to clean up from the aftermath from Hurricane Katrina. I arrived in that area within 72 hours after the storm had run its course and it was very obvious that those things structures built upon a firm foundation were better able to withstand the wind and water then those things that were upon a less then firm foundation.

As I watch the current events of the world unfold, I find myself convinced more each day that there will soon be some extreme storms coming in this world. Now is the time for those who acknowledge the being of Jesus Christ in their life to stand firm in the face of the storm. As a follower of Christ, I take my calling into the priesthood as a duty and an honor. I know that someday soon, I will have to stand before the Great I Am and in no way do I want to be the idiot who couldn’t stand a light breeze and shirked my duty. Regardless of what storms the world has ahead, I will stand my post firmly and resolutely.