The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,400 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.
This interview was conducted with a good friend and 2011 After the Yellow Ribbon contributor Chaplain Herman Keizer, who also worked with me on the Truth Commission on Conscience in War in 2010, by Calvin College’s Inner Compass series.
Dug this out of the interwebs after listening to a 2007 podcast from Duke Divinity School and reading Stanley Hauerwas’ War & the American Difference.
“Abolitionism: A Christian Response to War?”
discussion by Enda McDonagh, Stanley Hauerwas, and Michael Baxter
Keynote Panel, From Death to Life Conference
The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture
September 27, 2002
Readings for Nov. 11 Morning Prayer, St. Martin’s feast day:~
Today’s readings remind us of Martin of Tours, who was born in 316, was acclaimed Bishop of Tours on July 4th, 370, and ministered there until his death on November 11th, 396. Before the United States memorialized her veterans, before the world recognized Armistice Day, the Church celebrated a conscientious objector.
Martin, named after the god of war, was conscripted into the Roman army at a young age. His stature and appearance landed him in the most elite unit of all; the Praetorian Guard, Caesar’s personal security detachment. Everyone in his unit wore a beautiful white lambskin cape to signify their prestige and proximity to the most powerful man in the known world.
His growing interest in the newly legalized Christian religion made his a reluctant service, but one he nevertheless bore dutifully. Just a few years into his military obligation, Martin scandalously split his cape in order to clothe a freezing beggar in Amien, almost certainly despite the cold stares of his comrades. That night, he dreamt of Jesus, telling the heavenly host, “Here is my servant Martin, not even baptized, who has clothed me.”
Though Martin was baptized days later, unlike many soldier saints before him, he did not leave the military. Instead, he remained on for almost 25 years without having to draw the sword in battle. That all changed at [“Verms”] in 356. As Caesar Julian, his commander in chief, stood before him, Martin said loudly “I have served you long enough, let me now serve God. I am a soldier of Christ, I will not fight.”
Martin would go on to become an enormously popular priest and bishop, known for healing a great number of peasants across the French countryside, even raising up the dead. The cape he split in half to clothe Christ would be preserved by an order of monks in Tours. The sanctuary in which they housed it became known as a chapele (from Medieval Latin capella, literally “little cape”), which is the root word for both chapel and chaplain.
Every time you marvel at the beauty of the world’s chapels, remember Martin. This soldier of Christ reminds us that the Kingdom transcends our earthly oaths and allegiances; that Jesus can be found anywhere – in the guise of a freezing beggar, and in the uniform of a Christian soldier. Christ shattered the power of the sword over Martin’s imagination, and He can do the same for us. It is fitting that this conscientious participant, this man who knew well the thin red line between God and country, between faith and service, leads us all to engage more meaningfully and lovingly to those who serve in wars we oppose.
If we allow the light within us to break forth like the dawn, healing for the hidden wounds of war-weary soldiers is sure to follow quickly thereafter.
Registration is now open for After the Yellow Ribbon, an event coming up in November at Duke Divinity School, sponsored by the student group Milites Christi. The conference will include a performance by and conversation with artist Derek Webb as well as a keynote by West Point ethicist LTC Pete Kilner. To learn more about the event, click here, and check out the awesome video below of Sam Wells on healing in community and the phases of forgiveness.
*Part of an interview series with Duke University Divinity School faculty looking at the hidden wounds of war and the Church’s resources that can help those in recovery.
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Veterans today commit suicide at the highest rate in our nation’s history, have startling rates of prescription drug and alcohol abuse, and are often thought of as “damaged goods.” Our society must accept the responsibility of acknowledging and confronting the moral fragmentation that our service members suffer as a result of their experiences in war. After the Yellow Ribbon at Duke Divinity School is an opportunity for the ecclesial, academic, and martial communities in particular to listen to and learn from those who endure the burden of doing violence in our name.
We invite practitioners of all disciplines, from music and the arts to theology and mental health, to respond to the challenge presented by the plight of soldiers and veterans in our midst. We want to work together to improve our efforts at prevention and reconstitution, and overcome this tragic epidemic. After the Yellow Ribbon is designed to stimulate conversation between the church, military and academic communities so that all might approach service members and veterans as human beings, and more fully understand and heal the unseen wounds of war (including PTSD and moral injury).
Additional resources:
