As an Army chaplain deployed to Afghanistan, George Tyger has seen and experienced things that many of us cannot fathom: naked children throwing rocks at him in the street, a playground in the middle of a Taliban graveyard, and incredible violence, anger, loneliness, and fear. Determined to find meaning in the midst of it all, Tyger reflects on his faith, his prejudices, and his privilege, and shares the unique perspective he has gained while serving and ministering in a war zone.
I didn't know how to end the nightmares. I was tormented during my sleep, and thought about my nightmares more than half the day. I tried to make sense of them. I wondered if in a past life I had been a civilian during a world war trying desperately to escape the devastation of war, However, I didn't believe in past lives or reincarnation. I believe there is a God, a devil, a heaven, and a hell. Every night from the earliest age I can recall I was in hell, a war zone, battling for my survival, running from the fiery flames of crashing, burning airplanes from all directions, the horror of no protection from the evil trying to consume me alive.
Create miracle atmospheres, even in the darkest circumstances. Canon Andrew White has experienced some of the most intense persecution and spiritual resistance imaginable. And yet, in the middle of the most turbulent war zones he has learned the secret to creating a Glory Zone. During Saddam Husseins regime and the invasion of ISIS, Canon Andrew White served as Vicar of St. George's Church in Baghdad. Despite incredible persecution, the church experienced amazing revival. In this incredible work, Andrew testifies to miraculous signs and wonders where Gods divine intervention broke through the darkness. And every supernatural encounter that Andrew White has experienced is possible for you! In Glory Zone in the War Zone, Andrew White teaches you to: Shift atmospheres with radical worship. Find divine protection through the blood of Jesus. Receive vital information through dreams and visions. Witness astounding physical healings. Live connected to the Seven-fold Spirit of God. Discover how you can create supernatural glory zones in the war zones of your life on a daily basis, regardless of your age, location, or situation.
Drawing on the themes of religious rhetoric, embedded in social and political contexts, this study offers new insights into the manners in which the Catholic Church helped mould the Slovenians' responses to WWI and reconsiders the reasons for the clergy's political actions amid tensions, which resulted in the Habsburg empire's collapse.
“Running away from God doesn’t work. I had tried.” —Roger Benimoff As he left for his second tour of duty as an Army chaplain in Iraq, Roger Benimoff noted in his journal: I am excited and I am scared. I am on fire for God...He is my hope, strength, and focus. But not long after returning to Iraq, the burdens of his job–the memorial services for soldiers killed in action, the therapy sessions after contact with the enemy, the perilous excursions “outside the wire” while under enemy fire–began to overwhelm him. Amid the dust, heat, and blood of Iraq, Benimoff felt the pillar of strength he’d always relied on to hold him up–his faith in God–begin to crumble. Unable to make sense of the senseless, Benimoff turned to his journal. What did it mean to believe in a God who would allow the utter horror and injustice of war? Did He want these brave young men and women to die? In his darkest moment, Benimoff wrote: Why am I so angry? I do not want anything to do with God. I am sick of religion. It is a crutch for the weak. Benimoff’s spiritual crisis heightened upon his return home to Fort Carson, Colorado. He withdrew emotionally from wife and sons, creating tensions that threatened to shatter the family. He was assigned to work at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he counseled returning soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder–until he was diagnosed himself with PTSD. Finding himself in the role of patient rather than caregiver, connecting as an equal with his fellow sufferers, and revisiting scriptural readings that once again rang with meaning and truth, he began his most decisive battle: for the love of his family and for the chance to once again open his heart to the healing grace of God. Intimate and powerful, drawing on Benimoff’s and his wife’s journals, Faith Under Fire chronicles a spiritual struggle through war, loss, and the hard process of learning to believe again.
This collection of essays ponders upon the intricate relations between the military and the spiritual from the Middle Ages to the present day. In order to analyse human attitudes towards conflicts, it is necessary to dwell upon the nebulous area where the religious and political spheres interweave so tightly that they become virtually impossible to distinguish. Indeed, despite remaining the responsibility of the state, the political decision to go to war depends heavily on some spiritual underpinning since, without a moral, ethical, or religious justification, it stands for gratuitous violence and is often equated with aggression. Situated as they are at the intersection of religious and political awareness, war sermons are an invaluable source of information regarding societies in times of conflict. Indeed, whether favourable or hostile to the waging of war, preachers participated in the edification of parishioners’ opinion. The writing, delivering or reading of sermons shaped the mental process of peoples who sought their ministers’ moral and spiritual guidance in times of crisis. This collection of essays offers contributions to the renewed debate on the function of war, its representations and its rhetoric as generators of identity.
From the Director and Associate Director of the VA's National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: a highly practical, user-friendly guide that answering all conceivable questions about returning from war--for veterans and families Two experts from the VA National Center for PTSD provide an essential resource for service members, their spouses, families, and communities, sharing what troops really experience during deployment and back home. Pinpointing the most common after-effects of war and offering strategies for troop reintegration to daily life, Drs. Friedman and Slone cover the myths and realities of homecoming; reconnecting with spouse and family; anger and adrenaline; guilt and moral dilemmas; and PTSD and other mental-health concerns. With a wealth of community and government resources, tips, and suggestions, After the War Zone is a practical guide to helping troops and their families prevent war zone stresses from having a lasting negative impact.
Beliefs We Hold is about blind beliefs that are not only gripping but also toxicas in zealotry or mania. They can enthrall some people who hold them doggedly, contaminating such guardians as well as those around them. One such case epitomizes how a sentinel can both hold beliefs and become held by them, a prime example of the unique relationship between beliefs gone rogue and the severe consequences that can ensue from mindless tenacity. Probably no beliefs are more deeply or faithfully held than religious beliefs. More than just influential, religious beliefs can be crucial in the lives of many people. And because they can determine both the nature and extent of conviction, religious beliefs can range in their effect from material to manic. Looking but not seeing. Riveting beliefs. Become crippling. Victimizing. That was JD, contaminated by fervor. Overwhelmed by religious beliefs that he could neither uphold nor disclaim created a dilemma for JD that took away his mental health and replaced it with mental illness. His struggle to find peace of mind was grueling, also contagious. So those around him who inadvertently caught the bug experienced much of the stigma that JD faced. JD was the victim not only of mental illness but also of the obsessive need of his attending psychiatrist to discover a bond between immanent beliefs and conspicuous pathology. In juxtaposition and in conflict with the attending was the chief of staff, who saw his vital duty as essentially the rendering of psychiatric service over any research mandate. The clash of egos and objectives that defined the aspirations of the two psychiatrists hindered JDs return to mental health. Still, in spite of cruel circumstance and after numerous traumatic events in house, JD finally benefitted from a change in psychiatrists. On the road to recovery, JD learned that he was, in a sense, crazy about God. What irony, he thought. Because it was that oddity that led him to understand how beliefs we hold . . . can hold us and, coincidentally, how he was initially seized by the intractable imperative. Inevitably and paradoxically, he had to give some credit to the gods of his imagination for bringing him down to earth. In a final reconciliation with divinity, he realizes that neither the Divine Comedy nor a divine tragedy had the ability to touch his soul, cater to his spirit, or fulfill his needs. It was, instead, a divine remedynot simply a matter of freeing himself of beliefs but, rather, of holding beliefs that are freeing.
This is a tale of deceit and vengeance based on Pukhtoonwali – a Pathan’s code of conduct. It is surprising how events of a nearly forgotten past sometimes catch up with the present. A small incident during the 1971 Indo-Pak war triggers a series of events that result in revenge nearly 50 years later. 'A Life so Full' is the story of Suraj, a third generation Army officer. He firmly believes that every time you fall into an abyss, a door opens somewhere with an opportunity to climb to the top once again. The book gives an insight into the heart and soul of a young Indian Army officer in different situations, including the times when he faces live enemy bullets for the first time. A very compelling narrative that spans over seven decades where the author shifts in a seamless manner from the past to the fast-paced world of today with ease. The lucid writing transcends the military to civil transition with ease as the protagonist travels from a strict uniform regimen to the nuances of civilian corporate leader. His deed of valour during the war 50 years ago becomes the reason that pushes him into a near abyss, but the soldier in him ensures that he comes out unscathed.
Looks at the difficulties pagans face in the miliary, offers an excerpt from the Wicca section of the U.S. Army Chaplain's Handbook, and includes spells and ceremonies for such events as deployment, going into battle, returning home, and a pagan militaryfuneral.
