Faith on the line
Faith on the line
Reflections on being a Chaplain to the Armed Forces from Revd Adéle Rees CF for the month of May as we remember VE Day 80 years on.
1. 'Who do you say that I am?'
The Army has an interesting relationship with faith. Its Chaplains are held in great love and esteem, our many failings as soldiers overlooked because of our great love for the soldiers we serve with. Yet we are also objects of ridicule, we are holy fools, essential to the moral life of the army, bringing much needed morale to our troops who often express their contempt for the faith that brings us into their lives, even as they express their love for us as individuals.
So who do I say Jesus is to the soldiers I work with?
Most of the individuals I work with would ‘never darken the doors of the church’, yet they will come into my office and lay bare their souls as they seek to make sense of their lives. At higher levels they are the ones who will speak to defend our continued presence in the Army. I wonder sometimes if they ever ponder what it is that draws them in and allows them to open themselves, what it is that makes us such a valuable asset to them. Everything I do as a chaplain, the one to one conversations, the mental fitness and behaviours teaching, the Acts of Remembrance, the Field Services, all of this and more, I do because my answer to the question ‘Who do you say that I am?’ is ‘the God who loves the people I serve’.
We are a nation that has enjoyed peace for the last 80 years, it is a wonderful truth to celebrate. The cost in human life over those years of warfare is incomprehensible, a cost that our sisters and brothers in Ukraine are painfully living with. It is not something any of us should desire, which is why some of you reading this may be pacifists. You may abhor the reality of war, you may actively campaign against the arms trade or nuclear weaponry, and the people I love may present an affront to you.
‘Who do you say that I am?’
When the people I love are stood in front of you they are looking to you, as they look to me, to answer the question ‘who is the God you follow and what does that mean for me?’ I wonder how you will answer Christ in that moment?
2. Wait for the Lord, keep watch, take heart
I’ve discovered many ‘armyisms’ in my 5 years. ‘Hurry up and wait’ is probably one of the most commonly used. There is always an enormous push to be ready as quickly and as soon as possible, usually followed by what seems to be an interminable wait, with people ending up ‘sitting on their bergans’ (an item known in civilian life as a rucksack). My units so far have been at high readiness, with some people living with the need to be ready to deploy on active duty in as little as 24hrs. Bergan packed for all possible situations.
As Christians we are told to be ready for Christ’s return in every moment of life, ‘for you do not know the day or the hour’. That kind of waiting can be both exhausting and profoundly boring. It can leave us with a powerful desire for action, yet forced to contain ourselves. In that kind of waiting space we can begin to think that nothing will ever happen, that we are just being messed about. Perhaps, in our frustration, we find ourselves blaming those around us and above us when our time would be better spent fostering generosity.
Generally I’m a great fan of idleness, I think the constant demands of modern life are quite unhealthy. Idleness can be a space for creativity, think of all those amazing pieces of wartime art made out of tins and bullet casings, I doubt they were knocked out in a few snatched moments. Rather I think they were lovingly carved to pass the hours whilst soldiers thought of home, and family. There is a far greater amount of ‘hanging around’ in warfare than you might imagine.
The sitting and waiting involved in army life always brings to mind the response of a congregant in my curacy parish, when I was (once again!) late to meet her. ‘Oh, no, it’s fine, such a wonderful opportunity for prayer…’
These spaces in between are places of grace for Chaplains, in the waiting space we can open up a conversation about life and faith. We can bring levity, prayer, morale. This last usually being sweet shaped. We wait for the Lord, watching over those entrusted to us, taking heart that there is always enough time for us and for them to be ready. For Christ or for war, whichever comes soonest.
