Chris' Christian Blog

February 27, 2020

"February 27, 2020" 

Prompt: "What are you wearing today? Share your outfit and tell us about your personal style."

Today I am wearing a Marshall University polo shirt and a pair of slacks. Typically I wear my Salvation Army uniform though. It consists of a white button down shirt with blue epaulettes with an big S on them, navy blue pants, black socks, and black boots. I wear my uniform most of the time because in God's army you are never "off duty". I don't consider the Salvation Army to be a regular army of people or a church. I consider it to be God's Army and all Christians are members of it. I'm not wearing my uniform today because it is being laundered. White shirts and stains don't go well together and I am using hydrogen peroxide to remove a small chocolate or blood stain from one shirt and a small unidentified stain from two others. I have a total of five uniform shirts but they are all dirty. I also have a converted USAF trench coat with Salvation Army epaulettes and a Salvation Army hat to complete the ensemble. I don't know how many people I have had come up to me and shake my hand saying "Thank you for your service.'

I usually explain that I am not in the military but rather in the Salvation Army. They all respond the same. "Isn't that service? You guys do wonderful work."

We do that work because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and feel compelled to meet people at their point of need. I love serving in the Salvation Army and will continue wearing my uniform. Right now my corps is shut down due to illnesses. I still intend to go on with business as usual and wear my uniform. I just bought two pairs of new slacks yesterday and a new shirt for my uniform, bringing my total up to six shirts, 12 pairs of pants, dozens of pairs of black socks, and two pairs of black boots. If you see me out of uniform it will probably be laundry day! I plan to buy at least three more shirts so that I never have to be out of uniform. I take my uniform very seriously. If anybody has any plain black or plain navy blue ties they are willing to part with let me know. They are the finishing touches for my ensemble and they are the hardest part of the uniform to keep clean. I have five ties and one of them has stuff on it. I'm going to try hand washing it today to clean it up. I learned a long time ago not to put them in the washer, even in a laundry bag, as they unravel. I can't afford that! I'm in God's Army and want to look my best!

On the rare days that I do not wear my Salvation Army uniform, I will be found wearing something from Marshall University. I am an alumnus from Marshall University having graduated from there on December 13, 2019 with a Regents Bachelor of Arts. An RBA is a degree offered by many state universities for people who do not want to declare a major. It was perfect for me as I already had over 90 hours of psychology and dependency (addiction) skills classes behind me. I transferred to Marshall from another university and to declare a psychology major at Marshall I would have had to have waited a long time to put in the residency hours required. The RBA required no such hours and I was able to graduate much quicker. I am proud to be an alumnus from Marshall, even though the football team lost the championship this year. I was formerly a WVU fan but upon attending Marshall I fell in love with the school. I do whatever I can to show my support and when I am not in uniform, I wear Marshall gear. However you will generally catch me in uniform. I am a Christian first and foremost. To me that means wearing my uniform. As a soldier in the Salvation Army I signed a covenant, which I consider to be between Jesus and I. That covenant dictates how I am to behave and to believe. Then I took an oath to obey the officers appointed above me. That makes me a soldier 24/7 and as such I will usually be found in uniform.

"Prompt: Who is your favorite poet?"

Do you mean who besides myself? lol In all honesty, my favorite poet is Robert Frost. I remember being in fourth grade, when I first began taking grammar classes and literature classes. The teacher recited Robert Frost's "Snowy Evening in the Deep Woods" and I fell in love with poetry and with that poem. I have since read a lot of poetry, including works by Robert Frost, and none has impressed me like "Snowy Evening in the Deep Woods." The only one that has ever come close to evoking that same high was "The Path Less Traveled" also by Robert Frost and "Face Our Destiny", written by myself. "Face Our Destiny" just seemed to come to me as if spoken by the voice of God Himself. It's message, not the rhythm were immaculate and when I cold read it several weeks after I wrote it I was floored by it. I didn't know I had such poetry in my brain. I don't remember exactly how it all goes but I will attempt to remember it and recite it now.

"Face our Destiny

When all our skies seem cloudy
And all our clouds are gray
Let us always remember
That God will provide a way.

There will be storms in our path
Yet there is a reason for everything
When we find the road is difficult
Maybe we should stop questioning.

Our paths spread out before us
The road that we must take
When we learn to face our path
Then progress we will make!"

That is not an exact recitation and I do not have a copy of it here to give you the exact version, but that is real close. What floored me was the message in the poem. I needed to here it at the time as I was struggling. I thought at the time that it was depression and bi-polar disorder, as I had many of the symptoms. However my doctor recently changed that diagnosis in light of new research. It was both bi-polar I disorder and a condition known as pseudobulbar affect, which causes mood swings and inappropriate outbursts of emotion. Sometimes I laugh for no reason at very inappropriate times. I may have an outburst of anger when I should be happy. Basically it screws the emotions all up and has to do with traumatic brain injury. I had my skull fractured once and the condition is a result. Medications treat it along with a lot of self-taught behavior modification and I seem to be okay today. It was just that I was having a pity pot on the day I cold read "Face Our Destiny" and it hit me like a base ball bat! I needed the swift kick and basically gave myself one. It was just a poem lying in a stack of papers on my desk and I read it. Afterwards I asked my wife who had written it. She told me that I had written it about two weeks earlier and read it to her then. Due to my head injury I had not remembered doing so. I have since started dating and signing my works.