As a soldier I try to follow
Your command to love others
Believing that fighting
Is not the answer
When so many suffer
At the hands of those who rule
Many have turned against us
But they do not live in hell
Where many days pass and it is hard to tell
Who is right and who is wrong
It is easy to judge from the comforts of home
Now I see some live without a place to call their own
Where some use religion
Bringing terror to justify their reason
Making victims of the innocent
Causing many to misunderstand
That Your Voice is peace
Never using hatred and violence as the answer
If the world only knew that I pray
From the depths of my heart
That I do not have to use a weapon as the way
Help me to have the courage
To use my voice
And proclaim Your Name
Without shame and guilt
That I am a hypocrite
Because I have a gun
Hiding the fear inside
That someone will use Your Name
To blame
Causing me to hang my head in shame
I pray everyday to find the way to bring peace
So I can lift my face to the sky
And come home because my job is done
Never needing to live in fear again.
by Susan Escobar
... who is a teacher, former servicemember, and spouse of a
serving Airman; her work has also been anthologized in The
Sounds of Poetry.