Hello, and peace to you today. This is CH (MAJ) Patty Jenkins with the 63d Readiness Division.
I majored in philosophy when I was in college. Of all the general classes I took, it was the one area of study that I thought could hold my interest through graduation.
Our department was small enough that the majors got to know each other pretty well. We even had a flag football team! The capstone of our studies was the dreaded senior thesis. Each senior had to defend their thesis to the department professors in a group interview.
I bounced around a couple ideas with my advisor, and finally landed on a topic I actually cared about: the meaning of life. (I was twenty-one. Feel free to roll your eyes.) I think I already had the idea that my life would take a different course. How would I know if I were living my life well, if it didn’t look like my mother’s or my sister’s? What would life be all about when school ended?
With help from my advisor and before all my professors, I put forth that what gives life meaning is love. The bonds we create with one another, or with the natural world, are what makes life worth living. Interestingly, my Christian friends were disappointed that I did not argue that following Christ is what makes life meaningful. And my agnostic philosophy friends seemed disappointed I took on such a “soft” topic. The funny thing is, I did feel a little embarrassed. Four years of college and all I have to say is love makes the world go ‘round?
Fast forward quite a few years and a band called the Foo Fighters records the quarantine version of Times Like These. (Turn up your volume and check the amazing video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GElP4YdrBE&list=PL6JsviDn9CWXmgwZgIufzHTmXtlZylznX&index=2 )
It's times like these you learn to live again; It's times like these you give and give again; It's times like these you learn to love again; It's times like these, time and time again.
It’s a quarantine version because a viral pandemic shut down the planet and caused a lot of people to re-examine their priorities. How would we know we were living our lives well, when we couldn’t leave our homes anymore? What was life all about when normal life ended?
It turns out my young self was onto something. Love grows most resilient when practiced in our daily lives; and when the walls of our daily lives fall down, love stands up.
Here is the direct email and phone number for anyone requesting support From the 63d RD Chaplain office,
usarmy.usarc.63-rsc.list.chaplain-all-users@mail.mil
650-526-9668