So I breathed a sigh of relief when I introduced myself to a man sitting alone in the surgery waiting room and he immediately told me that he loved chaplains. Whew! "I love chaplains. One of the most pivitol moments in my whole life was because of a chaplain."
Well, pull up a chair. I can't resist that opening line.
Seems Cal was a paratrooper. In January of 1951 he was making his 32 jump. I asked if he got scared jumping out of a plane. "No!" he said with bravado. Then he winked and said "Yes. But don't tell anyone." On this dark, cold night the whole troop was to jump and then run to the designated location. Somehow during the process another paratrooper got tangeled up in Cal's shoot. As Cal was landing, the other guy landed hard on top of him. Then took off running. Cal got untangled and then realized he couldn't stand up. He couldn't move his legs. He began to yell, but no one was in earshot. Cal was helpless, alone and freezing.
Minutes went by. Long, dark, lonely minutes. Then Cal saw headlights. He waved his arms and yelled for all his worth. The jeep stopped. In it was an army chaplain. "Are you OK?" he asked. Cal said no. The chaplain picked him up and carried him to the jeep. He drove him to the hospital and carried him in.
Cal had a broken back. He healed slowly, regained use of his legs and went on to earn two purple hearts. But he never forgot that night. That chaplain's act of caring was burned in his memory. Forty nine years later I was welcomed with open arms because of a chaplain who stopped by.
"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." Psalm 91:14-16
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