Trinity Sunday

 

Typical Kitchen Glocks

Tomorrow we rightly remember and honor the fallen, today we celebrate the holy and undivided Trinity. Part of that, here at the Compound, means welcoming assorted soldiery on a weekend pass from Fort Hood. One of them, my eldest, is even a Sergeant, which seems very strange.

Perhaps you remember when Sergeants seemed pretty old. Now they're not, they're ludicrously young and full of youthful energy. That in mind, let the reader understand, would the NCO Club make it to Mass this morning?

Good question, and after Mass #1 at 0945 the Manse was ominously silent, like two minutes silence silent. You'll be pleased to know I resisted the heady urge to charge upstairs beating a wake up drum armed with a pick-axe handle, and brewed strong coffee instead. Let the kids rest, I thought to myself on the back deck, after all, they run around all week, so.

Then, irenic reverie over, lo and behold, there's a team in the dining room struggling into two button blazers and khakis. Why they couldn't do this in their rooms is and remains a mystery, but still, there it was and not bad for all that. And off we went to Mass #2 by the lake.

I'll spare you the trinitarian homily, which was a hopefully helpful Augustine/Aquinas hybrid, but I will say this: The faithful believe that a communion of divine persons in perfect love lies at the heart of reality, that ultimate Truth is personal love which loves us. The modern heathen believe in a very different God, that reality is impersonal force. You will notice, my dear friends, that people come to resemble the deity they worship. Choose wisely.

In similar news, a churchman sent me this excellent photo after Mass, from the restaurant where he was enjoying lunch. Have a look:

We must all eat at this place, and what can we say? A free man can defend himself, a slave can't. Go ask a Red Indian or someone in the UK if you doubt me.

#2A,

LSP

I Say Again

 

And big thanks to LL, who helped make this not unimportant evolution possible. No small thing. There is hope, my friends, in our youth.

Your Tan Suited Friend,

LSP

STAND STEADY

 

Well done, boy, go for that commission. Keep your eye on the ball.

Just sayn'.

Your Old Pal,

LSP

Boyz in The Hood

You may be surprised at this or you may not, but my eldest seemed way happier in uniform than  he was pretending to be a civilian for the last month. Seriously. Hey, just as well, because the kid had to report to Fort Hood today.

We drove out down the Highway to Hell that is I35 and emerged miraculously unscathed in Killeen, a short hop from there to "The Great Place," home of III Corps Phantom Warriors and lots more besides, not least expeditionary signals.

After waiting for an hour to get a pass to enter the fort, we drove on through to the vastness of the thing, and it is huge. The 1st Cavalry motorpool(s) alone probably mustered more armor than the UK's combined equivalent. Quite a thing.

Then we had a late lunch at a dysfunctional Burger King on base and I dropped the Specialist off at the "Welcome Center." Well done, boy, respect. He's got 2 weeks of in-processing and then joins his unit, 57 Expeditionary Signals Battalion, who've been blessed with lighter kit, demanding 4 man teams and a leadership program to boot.

Well, let's see how that goes. In the meanwhile, maybe I should go in as a volunteer chaplain, it'd add another level of accountability, as t'were. Just a thought.

Whatever, good luck son, you've done well so far. Now let's see "green to gold," not that there's any pressure, heh.

God bless,

LSP