Sunday, January 14, 2007

Bugle call

The first week's almost gone...
At the start, the Commanding Officer welcomed the troops back to the battlefield.
Amidst the excitement expressed by fellow comrades, I was feeling rather neutral to it all. I just made myself comfortable in my front-row seat. The C.O. conducted the campaign-briefing with an air of confidence; promising a tough, demanding fight to expect ahead.

Eye-balling the gestures of the C.O. and the 2nd-in-Command, I felt an unspoken sense of concern for subtler issues. Nothing to do with blue-force casualties or our unit's depleting war-chest. Perhaps what I felt was the temptation of fear. The fear that makes a soldier rooted to the trench-line; when the realisation of being formed-up for a (suicidal) charge sets in.
I dismissed the thought. There was no turning back now anyway.

What my hardened-spirit needs most and sorely misses is courage.
A boldness which led me to transfer out of the "safety" of my previous posting.
That firm resolution that here, was where, there was much more for me.
Guts; worthy of & fitting for my final tour of duty.

Reality never sets in safely the way you expect. Its whistles from afar, incresingly deafening before shrapnel and energy-waves scatter your battle-formation. It demands you re-group, re-supp and press-on toward your objective.

Perhaps the C.O. wasn't casting a condesending eye like my cynical-side guessed. Perhaps I was being spared the C.O.'s disappointed look-in-the-eye. A consolation for morale's sake. An offer of withdrawal in the knowledge of imminent disaster. Maybe the unit wonders if I am fighting for a lost cause too. I beg to differ.

The enemy's not won. The battle's just begun.
By faith, I prepare to embrace this war; transcending weariness, even mortality.
This war, I surrender only to One.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's the spirit and attitude! Amen.
We'll see you at the finishing line, and you'll be all smiles because the race couldn't have been better completed than having done it hand in hand with the Lord.

David Chen Weirong said...

Let us continue encouraging one another in the race as well~ XD Amen!