Went to the 0930 service today. Met up with an old shipmate from the Princeton that also worships there. So far I know of 3 old shipmates that worship there. Two are on deployment and the other two I met again today. Carter, one of these old Princeton buddies told me about what was going on in the life of Mark. Mark was the Chaplain on board the Princeton from 2002 to 2003. He's was a very Godly man and had a hard job as being the spiritual leader on board while we were on 'pac. The battle that he fought was not against the many death that he had to endure but because of the many oppositions that Satan had brought against him as he tried to bring God into as many aspects of ship board as he could. Many of the leadership was apathetic toward God, whild others were in strong opposition toward anything that had anything that anything to do with him. Since we had parted Mark went on to chaplain at Pendleton. As a matter of fact he has just arrived back from deployment 3 months ago. And that is where his troubles starts. While he was deployed Mark's daughter left to live with her college boyfriend out of state. This, as would any Godly parent who had strove to lead his young'ns in the way of the Lord, devastated him. It also cast doubt in his mind as to what type of leader was he. How was he suppose lead other spiritually if he could not lead his own family. This was on top of the many other dilemmas that crossed his mind. The other two were the death that he had witnessed while in Iraq, and he is in his fifties now and feels it is too old an age in which to continue to suffer such stress, But where is he to go? He tried for jobs in the San Diego area but there have been no takers. Some churches wanted him as a senior Pastor, at 53 they seem to feel this is a station more inclined to his age. Unfortunately he cannot leave the Navy completely, he must first spend time in the Reserves which may require him to once again pick up and go at a moments notice to a place that may prove to be the death of him, not a very savory option for a church in search of a senior leader. All these things are pressing upon him, his unit is in the midst of work ups for another go in Iraq and he his now feeling the tell tale signs of Post Traumatic Syndrome. Carter is working with him with the job angle by asking him if he had asked God what he wants in his life. In a very surprised voice Chaplain Mark answered, "No as a matter of fact I actually haven't". All this however seems to pale in comparison to his daughter living outside of the will of God, and is now pregnant. I thought on this during the sermon, listen to Miles speak on the suicidal outlook of Buddhism. It occurred to me that if the father of a family is the physical representation of the family just as God is the father of all that are saved, and having a child stray is the mark of a bad father, then what does that say about God. It isn't a rare occurrence to have a person that is saved, especially at a young age to fall away if for only a brief time. I can be witness to this last, I was saved when I was nine. Though I was hot to trot at the gate I started backsliding until I was around twenty seven. I didn't suffer from doubt as some people but the life that I was leading did not speak highly of God. God however continued to love me continually called to me on occasions, whether while I dreamed or through people he placed in my life. So yes as men of God we are held accountable to God for our children but just as Gods children often fall away from his teaching so will ours.
I left Carter and his wife after I placed in they're minds the need for a BBQ. So that Mark can be surrounded by those that love him, because people in depression tend to pull away from those around them. I told them to give me a call when it begins to firm up and headed toward my car and what turned out to be a very long day running around south county. All I wanted was a dress ESWS pin and a system I could use to mount my ribbon devices. I knew there had to be one out there because I owned one. Something so useful should not be allowed to go out of production. My first stop was MCAS Miramar. I never warmed to the idea of the Navy giving NAS Miramar over to the Marines. After the building blitz the navy went through during the latter part of the 1980's to all through the '90s I thought it was such a waste to turn it over to the Marines which I didn't feel was known taking care of it's people outside of keeping the operationally viable. For a brief instance after they formally moved into their new home from El Toro I thought maybe I judge them wrong. Well I guess I was right, after a brief tour of the base I found what use to be called the base pool is now called the Water Survival trainer. When I was a kid of a day like this where the Temprature was in the 80 degree marks it would have been crowded with kids, instead it was closed. The vast land set aside for picnics and such is now Semper Fit, or some other operational viable building. I can't really blame the Marines though for transforming my childhood into business structures. They are in the business of bringing people home alive from very dangerous places where they aren't known to be the popular team. As the SEALS like to say, "It's better to spill sweat on the practice field than blood on the battle field. It's just sad to see the base I grow up around turn from the family freindly enviroment that I once knew to a cold operations base.