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Turning back guilt
Originally appeared on spirituality.com
I’ve never known a veteran who committed suicide, but I’ve witnessed the suffering of some soldiers who have returned from war. Many in my parents’ generation fought in World War II. Beyond the “shell shock”—as it was called then—and the grief for buddies, and limbs lost, at times there was something else going on beneath the surface. And that was guilt.
Some have attempted to relieve that awful feeling by abusing alcohol. Others have just suffered through it. One uncle of mine was tormented by guilt. It was all he talked about, repeating over and over again that he would never kill another person.
Recent reports have highlighted the significant suicide rate among soldiers returning from the Middle East conflicts. One can’t help considering the feelings of guilt or regret that some of these soldiers have had to wrestle with. After reading about this, I was impelled to pray for them. I wanted to get down to seeing them as God sees them. My prayer started from the basis of a perfect God, and His perfect image and likeness, man. It included insisting in my thought that no experience or action, however awful, could resist healing. God’s love includes each and every one of us.
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