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Everything Has Its Time
To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, And a time to die;
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill, And a time to heal;
A time to break down, And a time to build up;
A time to weep, And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather
stones;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain, And a time to lose;
A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
A time to tear, And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
A time to love, And a time to hate;
A time of war, And a time of peace.
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American soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division hold their position 25 kilometers southeast of Gardez, Afghanistan, Friday March 15, 2002. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, Pool)
- Mar 18 3:34 PM ET
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A soldier of the U.S.10th Mountain Division holds his position during a combat mission in the rugged Shah-e-Kot mountains, 25 km (15 miles) southeast of Gardez, Afghanistan, Friday, March 15, 2002. Hundreds of American and Canadian troops were lifted into the mountainous region at high altitude to search for and destroy any Taliban and al-Qaida fighters they encounter. (AP Photo/ Mikhail Metzel, Pool)
- Mar 18 3:34 PM ET
United States Army door gunner Sgt. Jeff Bierman from Alton, Ill., flies Sunday March 17, 2002, over eastern Afghanistan in a Chinook helicopter. The helicopter was transporting the last contingent of Americans being pulled out of the Shahikot valley region as Operation Harpoon comes to a close, but Operation Anaconda continues as coalition troops pursue al-Qaida and Taliban in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Joe Raedle, Pool)
- Mar 18 3:34 PM ET
A U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter lands in the Shah-e-Kot mountains, 25 kilometers (15 miles) southeast of Gardez, Afghanistan, Friday March 15, 2002, where American and Canadian soldiers are searching for Taliban and al-Qaida fighters. Hundreds of American and Canadian troops were lifted into the mountainous region at high altitude to search for and destroy any enemy they encounter. (AP Photo/ Mikhail Metzel, Pool)
- Mar 18 3:32 PM ET
Please remember the men and
women who serve our country
by keeping them in your prayers.
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United States Army and Canadian soldiers look over the rugged Shah-e-Kot mountains as they search for caves or Taliban and al-Qaida fighters on the loose, 25 kilometers (15 miles) southeast of Gardez, Afghanistan, Friday, March 15, 2002. Hundreds of American and Canadian troops were lifted into the mountainous region at high altitude to search for and destroy any enemy they encounter. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, Pool)
- Mar 18 3:32 PM ET
New Yorker Major Brad Herndon from the U.S. 10th Mountain Division examines an unexploded artillery round during a combat mission in the rugged Shah-i-Kot mountains, 25 km (16 miles) southeast of Gardez, Afghanistan, March 16, 2002. The U.S. military and its allies are planning new attacks on several pockets of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters believed to be hiding in southern and eastern Afghanistan, The Washington Post said on Sunday. REUTERS/Mikhail Metzel/Pool
- Mar 16 9:41 PM ET
U.S. Troops from the 10th Mountain Division sit in a Chinook transport helicopter on their way to take up the fight in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, March. 13, 2002 (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
- Mar 13 11:02 AM ET
American 10th Mountain Division and Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battalion soldiers survey their position in 25 kilometers southeast of Gardez, Afghanistan,
Friday March 15, 2002. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, Pool)
- Mar 18 3:34 PM ET | | |
Casualties of Unrest
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CIA officer Johnny "Mike" Spann, 32, of Winfield, Ala.
Spann, a former Marine from a small town of 4,500, was questioning Taliban prisoners in a compound near the Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif when they erupted in riot. He was killed on Nov. 25, on the first day of the three-day riot, making him the first American to be killed in combat in Afghanistan. U.S. officials say he died of a gunshot wound and was not tortured.
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Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher James Speer, 28, of Albuquerque, N.M.
Speer was one of five U.S. soldiers injured in a July 27 ambush while hunting for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan. He was moved shortly after to a hospital in Germany, where he died Aug. 12. Speer was based at U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, 31, of San Antonio, Texas
Chapman was killed Jan. 4 by hostile, small arms fire in eastern Afghanistan, near the city of Khost. Chapman, a special forces soldier who has spent more than 12 years in the military, was the first U.S. combatant killed by enemy fire.
Chief Warrant Officer Stanley L. Harriman, 34, of Wade, N.C.
Harriman was killed March 2 in a ground attack shortly after American forces, joined by Afghan and other allied troops, began an offensive against al Qaeda fighters near the town of Gardez. The father of two children, Harriman was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Sgt. Bradley S. Crose, 27, of Orange Park, Fla.
Crose, a member of the 1st Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, based at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga., was one of six U.S. troops killed March 4 after their helicopter came under intense fire near the Afghan town of Gardez, southeast of Kabul. Crose was a tae kwon do master who competed on a national level.
Sgt. Jamie Maugans, 27, of Kansas
Maugans was killed April 15 in Afghanistan when rockets he was attempting to dismantle exploded. He was a member of the 710th Explosive Ordnance Detachment based in San Diego.
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Staff Sgt. Brian Craig, 27, of Texas
Craig was one of four soldiers killed April 15 in an explosion in Afghanistan. Craig and the other victims were killed when old Chinese-made rockets they were attempting to dismantle exploded. Craig was a member of the 710th Explosive Ordnance Detachment based in San Diego.
Sgt. Gene Arden Vance Jr., 38, of West Virginia
Gene Arden Vance, a U.S. Special Forces sergeant, was fatally wounded when his unit came under heavy fire while on patrol in eastern Afghanistan on May 19, and died while waiting to be evacuated. The 38-year-old soldier from Morgantown, W. Va., was recently married and had canceled his honeymoon plans when he was called up to serve in Afghanistan with the 19th Special Forces Unit. He is survived by his wife Lisa and a daughter.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Peter P. Tycz II, 32, of Tonawanda, N.Y.
Tycz, assigned to the Army's 3rd Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C., was killed in the June 12 crash of an Air Force MC130-H near an airstrip in the Gardez region of Afghanistan.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Anissa A. Shero, 31, of Grafton, W.Va.
Shero, of the Air Force's 16th Special Operations Wing, was killed June 12 when an Air Force MC130-H crashed near an airstrip in the Gardez region of Afghanistan.
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Sean M. Corlew, 37, of Thousand Oaks, Calif.
A member of the Air Force's 16th Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Fla., Corlew was one of three troops killed June 12 when their Air Force MC130-H crashed near an airstrip in the Gardez region of Afghanistan.
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Stark despair and anguish that the tragedy
causes takes ones spirit and wrenches it.
Many people blame God for tragedy or they feel that
God should stop it, seeing Him as cruel and unjust.
There are also the ones who feel confirmation that there is
no God. That if there was a loving God, He would never allow
such a thing.
This is where walking with a broken heart for man
takes it's place. To see that man can still be angry at God
in such horrific circumstances. That they are hardened
to His mercy and absolute justness . This is
where the body of Christ has the opportunity to shine in the
darkness and show that man does not have need to fear evil
and what man can do to them out of their own desires. That our
fear is the respect for God and His omniscience.
Dread is a terrible place to be. It causes the unrest of the soul
and a heavy cloud of bondage on the spirit. All christians know
that type of fear, that is where we came from.
But how beautiful to see a spirit set free to fly under the wings
of the Almighty. The one who came with the only purpose of
bringing light and freedom to the weary.
The Prince of peace is the only one who can bring peace to the
unrested world. It won't come through the laws of man, for the laws
of man are flawed and inevitably self-serving. Yet Jesus puts in us
to esteem others better than ourselves and to strive for the bottom line,
persuading others to repentance.
So when remembering tragedy, I can't help
but remember that the world is still lost and that this is not the end
of tragedy for an unrested group called man. That our hearts need
to break for the many who need hope.
I would like to add, that although I am an American, I know that many from other countries have died fighting for peace. Our thoughts and prayers should be with the world and not limited to one place on the map.
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