A Monk & A Military Chaplain: An Uncommon Friendship

I have been reflecting a lot on this journey called life and the importance of my introduction to and immersion in the writings and the world of Thomas Merton in 2014. Even though I was introduced to him after I had retired from the USAF Chaplain Corps in 2011, he has been a mentor, friend, and companion as I have continued to reflect on and process my journey in uniform.

In 2024 Denise and I attended an emerging scholars retreat sponsored by the board of the International Thomas Merton Society. I wrote this free form poem on the last day of the retreat. Now, almost two years later these words are even more relevant as I watch the destruction being wrought by christian nationalists in this country and in the military and specifically in the chaplaincy. The cornerstone of the chaplaincy was the one of the First Amendment’s guarantees—freedom of religion. I believed in that guarantee and throughout my career I did everything that I could to fulfill that guarantee.

So, once more I read these words to myself and share them with you as an offering of encouragement and prayer, dear reader.

Do you see the irony, Fr Louis?

Military Chaplains study the Geneva Conventions 

We study the Law of Armed Conflict

You wrote about peace

You challenged the Council of Bishops and the church at large 

You wrestled with just how to nonviolently resist 

We were called moral and ethical advisors 

We were supposed to be the conscience of the war machine

Yet chaplains wrote scripture verses on bombs

Do you see the irony Fr Louis?

How do we reconcile the calling to follow the Prince of Peace

When churches give away AR-47’s at raffles

When politicians wear automatic weapon pins as jewelry

Do you see the irony Fr Louis?

Help me my trusted mentor

Help me my spiritual advisor

Help me my friend

How do we walk through the irony

How do we speak against the government and even the church

I see the irony now

Show me the way

Walk with me as an instrument of God’s peace 

22 June 2024, Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani

My hope in these turbulent times is found in the words of the Gospel of John: the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (Jn 1:5) May it be so…