By Graham Glover –
Five months ago my family and I arrived to Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina so I could attend the Chaplain Captains Career Course at the United States Army Chaplain Center and School. I graduate tomorrow and after taking a couple weeks leave in our hometown of Gainesville, Florida, we’ll be on the road again.
Actually, we’ll be in the air again. We’re off to suffer for God and Country at Schofield Barracks in Oahu, Hawaii.
I know. I know. Poor me. The thought of living in Hawaii for three years must be dreadful. Yeah, right!
During my time in our nation’s 50th state, there must be a way for the authorities at The Jagged Word to arrange some type of conference/symposium/gathering on the island of Oahu. Can you imagine the conversations about theology, politics, culture, fashion, the arts, sports, technology, etc. on the beaches of Hawaii? Seriously, somehow – someway, this must happen!
As excited as I am to continue ministering to our nation’s heroes – those brave men and women who defend our freedom and advance the cause of liberty throughout the world, I am, as one might expect, nervous about this new assignment. Once again, my family is moving half-way around the world. For the 3rd time in 8 months, my children will attend a different school. Living on a tropical island will be fantastic, but we keep hearing about this thing called “island fever”. I can’t wait to spend A LOT of time on the water, but know that the Unit I’m going to will likely keep me very busy and probably take me away from home on a regular basis. We’ll be living where people come to vacation, which begs the question – what does one do for holiday when you live in Hawaii?
Yeah, I’m excited and I’m nervous. All of the Glovers are a little anxious about our pending move. Hawaii sounds great. Most everyone I’ve spoken to who is or was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks has nothing but great things to say. But still, we don’t know what we don’t know. On so many fronts, our future is unknown.
Isn’t the case for all of us? We may think we know what our future holds. We plan and then plan some more. We do everything we can to create some semblance of predictability to our lives. We don’t like chaos. We like to know the answers, and if we don’t have them, we are quickly hard at work trying to find them.
But as much as we want to know, we don’t. We don’t know what tomorrow might bring. We don’t know when our lives will end. And we most assuredly do not know when our Lord will return.
So we Christians wait. We wait with eager anticipation. And we prepare. We do everything we can to plan for this glorious day. The Church helps us in this season of Advent to get ready. It offers us everything we need to meet our Lord at His Second Coming. When will this occur? Only the Father knows. What will it look like? Glory. Pure and utter joy.
Yet, you and I need not worry. We need not be anxious. There is nothing to be nervous about, for the new heaven and new earth that awaits us is the very essence of perfection.
Happy Advent my friends.
Come Lord Jesus. Come quickly.
