WHEN PEACE IS SHATTERED...

Today's headlines in my daily news digest from the Washington Post...
'I could hear the bullets going past me'
(By Greg Jaffe and Philip Rucker, The Washington Post)
At Walter Reed, a palpable strain on mental-health system
(By Anne Hull and Dana Priest, The Washington Post)
Probe of suspect's motive begins
(By Scott Wilson, Carrie Johnson and Spencer S. Hsu, The Washington Post)
Unassuming on the surface, but roiling within
(By William Wan, Kafia A. Hosh and Christian Davenport, The Washington Post)
In base's town, lots of anger over 'evil' act
(By William Booth, The Washington Post)
Three foreign journalists reported detained in Iran
(By Thomas Erdbrink, The Washington Post)
More than 25 troops wounded during search
Friendly fire may be to blame in incident in western Afghanistan
(By Ann Scott Tyson, The Washington Post)
Millions represent the face of 10.2 percent joblessness
(By V. Dion Haynes and Dana Hedgpeth, The Washington Post)

I had a very difficult day yesterday, Friday, spending most of it at the hospital where my daughter, Donna, has had yet another surgery to remove a large abscess and leave another large open wound for me to tend.  By the time I checked my e-mail, snail mail, fed my two beautiful pet-friends and fixed food for myself, I was too far gone to function further.  I dozed/slept through several tv programs and then went to sleep for the night.

I watched most of the running news coverage on Thursday as I worked in my office and tended my daughter who was bedridden and in great pain. 

This morning (Saturday), just before awakening, I had a dream.  In the dream I was not at a place of my own but in some unfamiliar place and I needed a desk or table to complete something I was working on.  The only lights in a darkened room were near a door and over the work surface I was directed to use.  I laid out my papers and was preparing to get to work but was struck with the decoration on the edges of the work surface.  The border of the work surface was of ornately detailed snakes.  I checked the one going to my left and it was definitely ornately carved hard wood with it's head toward the center of the work area right in front of me.  There was another snake in the same position to my right with the head right in front of me, noes to nose with the other image...  As I examined the one to the right I discovered it to be too much detailed to be a carving.  I clamped my thumb and fingers on the neck at the base of the head and found that one to be a live snake that immediately opened it's mouth to reveal it's fangs and resist my grip.  I held the snake and called for a friendly who was with me to open the door so that I could dispose of the snake... and I awakened...  It was a warning that danger is among us, invisible to us if we are not careful and it must be removed from among us.

Then I prayed and came to the computer to check the received messages and found the headlines displayed above.  During my prayers I was impressed with the message of Proverbs 21:31... The horse (and every instrument, every tool of war) is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance and victory (safety and security) are of the Lord. (Italics added by DRS).  As I read that verse it tells me that the best of preparations, actions and intentions do not guarantee peace and security. 

Peace for this whole world is not attainable among all of the humans living in this world.  We have too wide a variation of wants and desires.  We have no common foundation beyond being human, bleeding red blood and breathing the oxygenated atmosphere around us.  Some of us do not even see others on the Earth as being equal humans with the same rights and privileges.  It seems that some one of us is always trying to kill some other one or more of us.

Constant Peace, the Peace that passes all understanding, is attainable only in the spiritual realm.  Jesus said so. "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation (general difficulties) and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted, (unstoppable)]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]  John 16:33 (Amplified Bible).  When this peace and power reigns in the spirit, it then transfers to the mind...   Then to the body.  This is a rest for the whole person.  If it did not work I would not be here.

The tragedy of Fort Hood on Thursday and the rest of the crisis indicated in the above headlines should not happen in our world...  This is the thinking of most all people and of the ones responsible for peace and safety in our world...  But reality is, that no matter how well we prepare, crisis still comes...  Some are natural disasters that we have no control over and some are man made and should have been foreseen and diverted...  At least that is the way most people think.

We have been over the discussion of the conflict between Islam and the rest of the world several times in my 8 years of writing these messages.  I suffer deep spiritual and emotional pain weekly over our Peace Keepers who are trying to keep and restore the peace here at home and on foreign fields.  We have our military fighting in two countries that practice Islam.  The people of those countries are Muslims.

A True Muslim,  believing his history and his religious literature, cannot fight for the United States against other Muslims.  Unless released from any duty requiring him to fight other Muslims, he will eventually fight against the United States and for other Muslims or for his religion or he is not a good Muslim.  Islam calls for complete devotion to Allah, his literature, his customs and his human leaders.  That allows no room for complete devotion to any other entity.

According to the Bible, there cannot ever be peace between the descendants of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael...  That will always be the case,"... his (Ishmael's) hand will be against every man and every man's hand will be against him (Ishmael); and he shall live to the east and on all of the borders of his kinsmen."  Genesis 16:12 (Amplified Bible)...

If one believes in God (not Allah), he must accept that God has said this.  If one believes in Allah (not God), he must accept that Allah directs him to eliminate all who will not believe in Allah as directed by their's and Allah's religious literature.  That is the reason for the war in Israel involving Jerusalem and the west bank.  Muslims want it all because of Abraham and Ishmael.  Israelis want it all because of Abraham and Isaac.  Ishmael was the son conceived through the collusion of Sarai and her slave girl Hagar.  Sarai gave Hagar to Abram to help God give them the son He promised to them but the child born of the slave woman was not the promised son.  Isaac was the promised son born through Sarai, who was later renamed Sarah.  Abraham's original name was Abram.  God changed both of their names

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one... and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions, or whatever is trusted in other than the God of the Bible and the Lord Jesus Christ).  Matthew 6:24 (Amplified Bible)

You cannot believe in and serve two entities or two things or God and any other thing if that thing has the same significance and devotion in your life that God is supposed to have...  God first above all things...  Or He is not your God!  That is the teaching of the Bible.

Allah is not the God of the Bible.  Neither is the God of the Bible the God of the Muslim!

We, as a nation, have taken God and His laws and precepts out of the leadership of our government.  We, as a people, have become all inclusive taking into our inner circle anyone who appears to act right according to the ethics of the moment.  We have neglected to understand that two or more cannot walk together unless they be in agreement.  Amos the prophet said that... Their foundations must be the same.  We have abandoned the standards given to us by God that requires truth, honesty and integrity in all things.

I am all for doing all we can to assist any nations that need assistance that we are capable of giving, but we, as a nation, must realize that Islam and Democracy can never exist together as the rule of any one country.  Islam is a Theocracy, not a Democracy.  The people do not decide...  Allah and his human leaders decide governed by their literature and customs.  You cannot legislate peace upon a Theocracy if their god and his leaders do not allow any power to the people...  And Democracy gives decision power to the people, not only to religious leaders. 

Yet we are constantly putting our military personnel into the situation of being governed by our rules in the midst of people who are governed by different rules, to help bring peace to their land.  We need to help them establish their choice of government and leave them to their own governing.  If we remain to police them, there will always be conflict between us and them.  The different standards of activity and living do not mesh with each other.

The awful incident of Thursday on Fort Hood emphasizes that this world is in turmoil.  People in this world are in turmoil.  Crisis may not be real to one person and overpoweringly real to another person looking at or thinking on exactly the same incident or series of events.  Fort Hood stood for one goal...  Major Hasan stood for a different goal.  Major Hasan acted out his goal upon the dead and injured troops of Fort Hood.

We will have many articles and books inspired by the actions of Major Hasan.  There will be two prevailing views, as has already been made evident, in the articles represented by the headlines presented above and others I have read.  One, the shooter was mentally ill and snapped under the strain.  Two, he was an undercover terrorist and that was his moment of declaring his war on infidels.  No matter the reason or the cause, he did this.  This is not the first such incident in our armed forces and it likely will not be the last. 

My concern today is the aftermath...  How do we restore peace to the injured and the families and loved ones of the dead?  How do we restore the stability they all need to go forward and deal with this atrocious incident that has intruded into their lives by no fault of their own?  First, we need guidance...  Then we need action.  The actions must provide the means of healing and restoration...  The opportunity to be supported as they go on with life in this world.  I prayed and I write...  Somewhere I will get opportunities to minister to the needs of people deeply affected by the action that took place at Fort Hood.  I must be ready to give ministry, care and concern, even if I cannot give answers.

That bloody incident brought out many heroes and heroines...  The female police officer, Sergeant Munley, first officer to confront the shooter, shot by Hasan and she in turn shot and stopped him...  The dozens who braved being shot themselves to help the injured, both those in the same building and those who ran from the graduation ceremony in another building to help the injured even though they were not armed themselves...  They applied tourniquets, bandaged wounds with tee shirts, hauled the wounded in cars and trucks...  Dozens of Peace Keepers performed every action they could even as they were in danger themselves...  That is the spirit of the American Peace Keeper manifest by both military and law enforcement working to stop the destruction and restore the peace and safety...  WELL DONE FAITHFUL PEACE KEEPERS...  WELL DONE!!!

What more can be done?  Pray and ask God and yourself.  Direction is available if we ask for it.  The military needs more doctors and specialists to meet the demands of troops that are surviving these wars that would not have survived the previous wars.  The demand upon the medical staff and the available facilities is larger than humongous... Will we ever catch up?  I believe we can but we need to put more emphasis upon the individual Peace Keeper after they survive the crisis.  We need to be more responsive sooner.  These Peace Keepers did what they did for all of us and our welfare because our government received them into the ranks of the Peace Keepers and taught them duty and peace keeping.  Every injured and discharged Peace Keeper deserves and should receive the very best of assistance, care and provision that any other person could purchase in the civilian world.  We took them from the civilian world and trained them to function in the world of peace keeping.  We do owe them the very best we can give every moment for as long as they need it.

Peace Keepers, you make the difference when evil raises it's ugly head and strikes terror into human hearts.  Everyone of you have or will, somewhere, sometime, make the great difference between peace and chaos; between safety and destruction; between life and death.  You have put yourself in a place to make it so.  THANK YOU.  Thank you is not enough so I will continue to give my service to all of you in any way that I can for as long as I can.  My Commander-In-Chief and I do so very deeply appreciate your service to all the rest of us.

"BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!"  ALWAYS be alert, watchful, suspicious and wary.  Take the very best care of you as you care for and about others. See to the strength and well being of your spirit as well as all the rest of you.  Your spirit must be strong for you to be successful.

Call or write if I may be of any service... Or if you just want to encourage me... Feedback encourages all who write... It helps to know we are reaching someone who reads the message.

Once again my return to the field is delayed by a medical emergency in my daughter's body.  This new wound will add months to the time that I must be here to care for her.  As with all things, I will take this in stride and serve her as best I am able just as I do in all things.  She is mine to care for and there is no one else to do it for her but me.  Children are part of the original marriage contract.  This is my principal duty as long as I am able to do it.  Continue to pray for us as we go through this similar battle again.  The abdomen is closed and the graft has taken beautifully.  This current wound is in a different place and not superficially connected with the previous wounds that are now healed.  This one has a history of it's own separate from the abdomen.

As it has always been... So it still is!!!

"VICTORIOUS WARRIORS WIN FIRST...
AND THEN GO TO WAR,
WHILE DEFEATED WARRIORS GO TO WAR FIRST...
AND THEN SEEK TO WIN."  Sun tzu

Training and practice are everything!
Without them, the best results are not obtained!

ONLY LIVE PEACE KEEPERS SEE THE VICTORY!!!
THEY SEE IT ONLY BECAUSE OTHERS HAVE MADE THEIR ETERNAL
PAYMENTS OF SWEAT, BLOOD, TEARS AND LIFE FOR THAT VICTORY!

WITH THE DEEPEST OF APPRECIATION AND RESPECT...
BE BLESSED (A CONDITION TO BE ENVIED)...
BE SUCCESSFUL... BE SAFE...
[My injunction to be safe means doing all you know to do as you do your job... it means
doing the best you can with what you have where you are using all your faculties to get
the job done well and with good results conquering evil and keeping or restoring peace...
it does not mean to avoid duty and honor... it does not mean to cower or allow anything
to hinder you in the process of duty according to rules, law and ethics...  it means that if
the demand takes your earthly life you destroy as much evil as possible in the process. 
That is my definition of being safe... doing the best you can and leaving the rest to God
or whomever else is responsible... being best employed for the sake and protection of all
the things and people that we hold dear.]

I represent, write for... and give the credit to:
God the Father (my Commander-in-Chief),
Jesus Christ the Son (the Eternal Captain of my life) and
the Holy Spirit of God (my Eternal Teacher, Keeper and Guide).
In Christ I live... with Him and for you I serve...
And I rejoice that you are there whether you are Christian or not...
For God, Country and the Peace Keeper...
D. R. (Don) Staton, Chaplain to Peace Keepers,
Surviving Peace Keeper,
Virginia State Police Alumni,
RETIRED Police Officer Virginia Beach Police Dept.,
Senior Chaplain and Administrative Chaplain VBPD,
DCJS Certified Police Instructor,
Community Service Officer (Traffic Safety) VBPD
Blackwater Alumni
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
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