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A number of years ago, my CO at 1 Svc Bn forwarded to me a speech and mess dinner prayer written and delivered by a friend of mine (yes, I have friends). Unlike me, he likes people and is a very good chaplain (according to some sr NCOs whom I could name but won’t, I am “not a real padre.” Yes, they’ve actually said this to my face! Can you believe the temerity, the gall, the nerve? How dare they?! But I digress). Where was I?
Padre (Major) Howard Rittenhouse – File Photo
Ah yes! The speech and prayer. As I said (or implied), it was very good. So since I’m lazy and can’t be bothered to think up something original for this month’s ponderings, I’m going to refer unabashedly to his hard-won thoughts.
At the time, this padre was the chaplain for the RCEME school in Borden. Twice blighted, say I – dealing with RCEME-types and posted to Borden. He was doing his rounds wandering the lines drinking someone else’s coffee (at least that’s what I imagine he was doing because that’s what I’d be doing), when he paused among the mat techs. He observed, as he later related at a mess dinner, that “What you are doing here as Mat Techs in your welding is a metaphor for life. You take two pieces of steel and weld them together. You grind it down so that it looks great on the outside and appears to be one piece of steel. Then you cut it into strips. Then we take one of those strips and we test it in a device that will bend the strip. In this way we see how good the weld is on the inside. If it holds you pass. This is like life. You can look good on the outside, but what really counts is what you will be like under the pressure and stress of life. It will reveal your character and what you are really like on the inside.”
I remember reading that and thinking, “I wish I’d written that!” Which rather shows you my character – as indeed do most of my rambling writings, to my eventual embarrassment. However, we’ve all experienced – or will experience – intense testing, pressure, and stress. Certainly, basic training was one of those times. Perhaps a deployment was another. In addition, many of us have dealt with marital stress, death, financial pressure, serious illnesses (of close family members or our own), postings, and more besides.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but none of us will live lives of unadulterated bliss and paradisiacal harmony. As Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” (admittedly, not one of His more welcome promises, but true nonetheless).
So, trouble will come just as sure as my continuing losing streak in Roll Up the Rim (0 for 18!). And those troubles, that testing, as my colleague said, will reveal who you really are. So let me encourage you (I can occasionally be encouraging): Always be more concerned about the development of character in your heart than the acquisition of rank on your chest.
Be intentional about the development of your character, for in the end that is all you really have and all you really are.
