Article June 16, 2008 Issue

A SOLDIER'S PRAYERS

BY JOSHUA NILES

I BET EACH OF US can think of specific times in our lives when we really learned to lean on God for protection and guidance like never before. I certainly can. For me, both my time in the US Army Ranger School and my service with the US Army overseas inspired me to climb higher in my study of Christian Science.

When I began my two months of Ranger training, I knew that it would involve extreme physical exertion, skilled preparation, and teamwork, but I had no idea it would push me to grow so much spiritually. As I walked and crawled my way through the mountains and swamps of the East Coast of the United States, carrying supplies on my back during training exercises, I found lots of time to think and pray. This process of learning to be still mentally for extended periods of time proved essential to successfully executing all my required tasks.

Over the course of the training, I became more devoted to listening to and following God's orders for me each day. It became my goal to recognize harmony when I saw it, to better understand that God was the source of all intelligence, and to let my actions follow. Putting this into practice required that I obey Jesus' guidance from his Sermon on the Mount, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). I was constantly praying to bring my thought in line with divine Mind, and to be conscious only of that Mind. In doing this, I learned to put God's guidance ahead of my preconceived plans.