thedrifter
12-22-08, 03:07 PM
Monday, Dec. 22, 2008
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Remembering those at war
By LAUREN R. STANLEY
- McClatchy Newspapers
RENK, Sudan — In 2004, I shaved my head bald every day for two weeks as a fund-raiser for a mission trip. Shortly after I began growing my hair back, my photo appeared in the newsletter of the parish where I was serving.
A few weeks later, I received an e-mail from a young man serving his first tour with the Marines in Iraq. A lifelong member of the church and one of our former acolytes, he saw that photo and wrote to me from the front line: "Nice haircut, Madre. Doesn't quite meet Marine Corps standards!"
Which is when I decided to stop growing my hair back and keep it short. In the 1960s, I told people in a newspaper column, we grew our hair long to protest the war. In the new millennium, I was going to keep my hair short - really short - in solidarity with all the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It's been four-plus years now with short hair. I'd like to say that I've remembered, every day, that we are at war in not one country but two. I'd like to say that every day, I remember the individuals serving over there. I can say that every day, I say prayers for peace, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, but those are, for lack of a better term, generic prayers for all the war-torn areas of the world.
I have to admit, there have been times in those four-plus years when I've begun to grow out my hair. It usually doesn't get very long before I get frustrated with it (growing out your hair is always messy). My hair is pretty thick and has some interesting cowlicks and eventually, every time, I give up and cut it off again.
But far too often, I go back to short hair for my own convenience, not because of my promise of solidarity with those serving in the wars.
And since I live in Sudan half the year, where we have limited water in which to bathe, and not very clean water at that, and it's hotter than spit there some days, keeping my hair short works for me.
(Plus, there's the added advantage that countless women have stopped me in stores and church and other public places to compliment me on my haircut, and to say that they wished they had the courage to do the same thing!)
But even though I keep my hair really short, almost to Marine Corps standards (my young friend would be more than happy to assent to that truth), I don't always think about the people who are serving there. When my young friend was there, I certainly thought of him every day. Praise be to God, he came home from his first deployment safely, and from his second as well. And when I've known others who personally are serving there, I've thought of them daily as well.
But I have to admit, with some shame, that when I don't know someone by name there, I tend to forget, for a day or two or three at a time, that people are serving in very dangerous spots very far away from here, in the name of my country.
And that, I know, is unacceptable.
We are a nation at war. I'm not talking about the ubiquitous "war on terrorism" that President Bush and Vice President Cheney have spoken of repeatedly, a war that is without end. I'm talking about real warfare, with guns and bullets and mortars and bombs and IEDs and homicide bombers. I'm talking about people - our brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and sons and daughters and aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews - who have to put on all kinds of protective equipment, load their weapons and go forth into hostile territory where they could be, and all too often are, attacked without notice.
The problem is that for all the years we've been at war - since 2001 in Afghanistan, since 2003 in Iraq - we as a nation have far too often ignored the wars. Oh, we've protested, we marched, we've written letters, we've voiced our opinions against this war. But on a daily basis, what do we do?
These wars really don't impact our daily lives. We haven't, as a nation, been asked to sacrifice anything. Individually and in our families, if we have someone in the military, we've done some sacrificing. But overall, what are we doing? Does each of us actually think about the wars every day? Do we pray daily for these wars to end? Do we pray daily for those who are fighting in our name?
Actually and honestly, we don't. We go on with our lives and only occasionally remember. Especially at this holiday time, when we're all going to parties and buying gifts and baking cookies and signing cards and singing carols, isn't it time for us to remember those who are serving their country? In these holy days, isn't that the least we can do for them?
As for me, I'm committed, more than ever, to keeping my hair short. It's a small thing, to be sure, but it reminds me, daily, that hundreds of thousands are serving in harm's way. And it reminds me to do something for them, starting with prayers.
I'm going to keep it short until combat activities end.
We're going to be in Iraq and Afghanistan for many years to come, but when the wars have truly ended, when our presence in those two countries is the same as it was in Germany and Japan after World War II, when we can declare that peace has broken out and believe that declaration to be true, then ... maybe ... I'll grow my hair back.
Until then, well, it's going to stay short, very short, almost to Marine Corps standards.
So that at the very least, I remember to stop every day to pray for peace and the safety for all those serving their country.
(The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley, a lifelong Cubs fan, is an appointed missionary serving in the Diocese of Renk in the Episcopal Church of Sudan, where she is a lecturer and chaplain at the Renk Theological College.)
Ellie
Comments (0)
Remembering those at war
By LAUREN R. STANLEY
- McClatchy Newspapers
RENK, Sudan — In 2004, I shaved my head bald every day for two weeks as a fund-raiser for a mission trip. Shortly after I began growing my hair back, my photo appeared in the newsletter of the parish where I was serving.
A few weeks later, I received an e-mail from a young man serving his first tour with the Marines in Iraq. A lifelong member of the church and one of our former acolytes, he saw that photo and wrote to me from the front line: "Nice haircut, Madre. Doesn't quite meet Marine Corps standards!"
Which is when I decided to stop growing my hair back and keep it short. In the 1960s, I told people in a newspaper column, we grew our hair long to protest the war. In the new millennium, I was going to keep my hair short - really short - in solidarity with all the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It's been four-plus years now with short hair. I'd like to say that I've remembered, every day, that we are at war in not one country but two. I'd like to say that every day, I remember the individuals serving over there. I can say that every day, I say prayers for peace, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, but those are, for lack of a better term, generic prayers for all the war-torn areas of the world.
I have to admit, there have been times in those four-plus years when I've begun to grow out my hair. It usually doesn't get very long before I get frustrated with it (growing out your hair is always messy). My hair is pretty thick and has some interesting cowlicks and eventually, every time, I give up and cut it off again.
But far too often, I go back to short hair for my own convenience, not because of my promise of solidarity with those serving in the wars.
And since I live in Sudan half the year, where we have limited water in which to bathe, and not very clean water at that, and it's hotter than spit there some days, keeping my hair short works for me.
(Plus, there's the added advantage that countless women have stopped me in stores and church and other public places to compliment me on my haircut, and to say that they wished they had the courage to do the same thing!)
But even though I keep my hair really short, almost to Marine Corps standards (my young friend would be more than happy to assent to that truth), I don't always think about the people who are serving there. When my young friend was there, I certainly thought of him every day. Praise be to God, he came home from his first deployment safely, and from his second as well. And when I've known others who personally are serving there, I've thought of them daily as well.
But I have to admit, with some shame, that when I don't know someone by name there, I tend to forget, for a day or two or three at a time, that people are serving in very dangerous spots very far away from here, in the name of my country.
And that, I know, is unacceptable.
We are a nation at war. I'm not talking about the ubiquitous "war on terrorism" that President Bush and Vice President Cheney have spoken of repeatedly, a war that is without end. I'm talking about real warfare, with guns and bullets and mortars and bombs and IEDs and homicide bombers. I'm talking about people - our brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and sons and daughters and aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews - who have to put on all kinds of protective equipment, load their weapons and go forth into hostile territory where they could be, and all too often are, attacked without notice.
The problem is that for all the years we've been at war - since 2001 in Afghanistan, since 2003 in Iraq - we as a nation have far too often ignored the wars. Oh, we've protested, we marched, we've written letters, we've voiced our opinions against this war. But on a daily basis, what do we do?
These wars really don't impact our daily lives. We haven't, as a nation, been asked to sacrifice anything. Individually and in our families, if we have someone in the military, we've done some sacrificing. But overall, what are we doing? Does each of us actually think about the wars every day? Do we pray daily for these wars to end? Do we pray daily for those who are fighting in our name?
Actually and honestly, we don't. We go on with our lives and only occasionally remember. Especially at this holiday time, when we're all going to parties and buying gifts and baking cookies and signing cards and singing carols, isn't it time for us to remember those who are serving their country? In these holy days, isn't that the least we can do for them?
As for me, I'm committed, more than ever, to keeping my hair short. It's a small thing, to be sure, but it reminds me, daily, that hundreds of thousands are serving in harm's way. And it reminds me to do something for them, starting with prayers.
I'm going to keep it short until combat activities end.
We're going to be in Iraq and Afghanistan for many years to come, but when the wars have truly ended, when our presence in those two countries is the same as it was in Germany and Japan after World War II, when we can declare that peace has broken out and believe that declaration to be true, then ... maybe ... I'll grow my hair back.
Until then, well, it's going to stay short, very short, almost to Marine Corps standards.
So that at the very least, I remember to stop every day to pray for peace and the safety for all those serving their country.
(The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley, a lifelong Cubs fan, is an appointed missionary serving in the Diocese of Renk in the Episcopal Church of Sudan, where she is a lecturer and chaplain at the Renk Theological College.)
Ellie