Honoring MY Hero

The Soldier

by Robert Frost

He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled,
That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust,
But still lies pointed as it ploughed the dust.
If we who sight along it round the world,
See nothing worthy to have been its mark,
It is because like men we look too near,
Forgetting that as fitted to the sphere,
Our missiles always make too short an arc.
They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect
The curve of earth, and striking, break their own;
They make us cringe for metal-point on stone.
But this we know, the obstacle that checked
And tripped the body, shot the spirit on
Further than target ever showed or shone.

I read Frost's poem earlier this weekend at Life with Kaishon and knew it would be perfect to honor the people who have fought for our freedom.

My cousin is a Ranger in the Army. He is an amazing testimony to his battle buddies of faith in action. Our family is so proud of him. He has witnessed horrible things and my heart hurts for him and those he fights with. Worst of all, perhaps, is that he has lost friends in combat. So for them, I dedicate this post.

PS I know the war is a huge debatable point. I recently read an incredible post at Prairie Air that left me with tears in my eyes and goosebumps on my arms. Because she says exactly what I wish I could put into words, here is a snippet from that post:

Now whether this war we're fighting in the Middle East is right or whether it's the best way to go about things, I don't know. I also haven't sorted out my own thoughts on whether or not or when it's right to go to war from a Christian standpoint. David was a man of war, and he was also called a man after God's own heart. We also know David walked outside of God's will a time or two, like when he had Uriah put on the front lines to die so that he wouldn't find out David had knocked up his wife, Bathsheba. There were times when God instructed men to fight, and I can't speak personally for what God has or has not instructed our present day leaders to do. Something makes me question whether or not they would listen anyway. All that to say that I am just as confused by this as anyone else. I have no answers for whether war or this war in particular is justifiable.