Police officer. Firefighter. Nurse. Paramedic. Public school teacher.
They’re all quite common. Tough, difficult, thankless jobs. I could never do what they do, so thank God for them.
How about one more profession taken for granted. How about military chaplain.
Norris Burkes, formerly a military chaplain, is now a hospital chaplain at the Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, California.
In an article in Christianity Today, Burkes writes about the unpleasant flashbacks of having to inform military families that their loved ones will not be coming home.
”They were flashbacks of barking dogs protesting our late-night arrivals on moonlit porches. Flashbacks of contorted people blurred by screen doors that they refused to unlatch. Flashbacks of the midnight screams of spouses, children, and parents as they were informed of their new reality.”He writes about the fear known by every person who has served our country.
”It is a fear reenacted hundreds of times in the mind of the service member and their families. Despite the fear, they go, they do their jobs, and most of them come home. And yet some won't return.”The chaplains go through extensive training, even exercises to prepare them on how to properly give military families the worst of news. Despite all the preparation and rehearsals, there’s no easy way to do it, yet they must.
You can read Chaplain Norris Burkes’ entire article
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