Journeying Spiritward from the South China Sea

"Although the military was moving us around physically, it was up to each one of us not to let it shove us around mentally."

By Brett L. Stafford

DURING THE EARLY part of the Vietnam war, I was aboard the U.S.S. Pyro, an ammunition ship. I found life in the military tough. We lived in close quarters, and tempers would flare. In retrospect, I realize that the conflict wasn't just among the people in Vietnam, but among ourselves as well.

Later, in thinking back to the lack of brotherhood I felt on the ship, I realized that I needed to see the other sailors more clearly, through what one might call the lens of Spirit. The effort to establish brotherhood on a strictly material basis is futile. In Science and Health Mary Baker Eddy writes, "The erroneous belief that life, substance, and intelligence can be material ruptures the life and brotherhood of man at the very outset" (p. 541).

A light for the journey came when a chaplain visited the Pyro. He gave us an inspiring talk that made me more aware of God's loving presence governing all of us. Later, while I was on watch at the rear of the ship, he stopped to talk a bit. I communicated some of the internal hardship I felt. He reminded me that although the military was moving us around physically, it was up to each one of us not to let it shove us around mentally. That was a strong support! I began to grasp that my real dwelling place was in Spirit, God—not in matter.

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