One of the privileges of being a military chaplain is the ability to be present with soldiers in the most dangerous places. We visit them regularly and sometimes we stay with them. We listen to them trying to make sense of the senseless by asking real and deep questions. One soldier recently asked me: “Padre, I just killed two Taliban last night. What do you think God thinks about me?” I paused for a moment and thought about the soldier standing before me as a Canadian who is trained to kill but not born to kill. I had the privilege of looking into his eyes. From where we were standing, we could see in the distance children running behind their own house playing. I pointed at them and told the soldier that those children could not be playing if he was not there protecting them.
It was important to note to the soldier, as a way of reminder, that Canadian servicemen and women are not the target in this war, they are just the scapegoat. The real target in this war is the Afghan people. The soldier asked the question because he thought he was not good anymore, having killed, which is against human decency. He thanked me for giving him another way of looking at himself. I told the soldier that it was not important to thank me. But rather it was important that he asked the question the day after he killed the two Taliban and not two years later. This is but a small taste of what we experience and hopefully it gives a sense of what Canadians are doing here in Afghanistan. As a Presbyterian chaplain, I want to thank all Presbyterians for praying for the troops who are our heroes, as they continue to bring hope to the people of Afghanistan. Please continue to pray for us until our work is done.
