Virtual-Doug

Christianity – Making the Connection

C and I’ve finally started doing it again.

Sometimes, we get so caught up in the hurry of things, we forget why we are doing them. As you know, we made the decision to allow God to send us off to Viet Nam to live for a year or so. In the process, we sold a house, found a new one, and moved – and we’ve been doing other things to lessen our financial needs and prepare the way. We’ve so busy doing all these things, we began to forget why we were doing them

We got so busy doing all the prep work, we forgot to stay connected to God. Back in May, we had a chance to talk to Charlie Long, a man who spent eighteen years in mission work, most of it with the Montagnards in Viet Nam. He gave us some sound advice – don’t try to do this yourself. Work hard at trusting God.

Now for me, an expression such as “Trust God” has a Southern revival air to it that is mildly uncomfortable. But Charlie is no wind-bag preacher. He is at once a very practical person and a deeply spiritual person.

Viet Nam Today - The Plan Continues

Been awhile since I've posted, eh? Traveling is tough on blogging, especially when one is traveling to attend long boring meetings.

But, in between those meetings in New York, I've managed to squeeze in some phone calls. Its been only four months since C and I decided to follow God's lead and live in Viet Nam. We sold the old house, and "downsized" into a new one. We're now in the process of finding out the details of working in Viet Nam.

We are learning. Recently, I learned that most of the universities in Viet Nam (except the two flagship schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) do not have the money to hire westerners to teach English, and instead rely on volunteer organizations to provide teachers. I found that out through my contacts at the University of Da Nang.

Miscellaneous Ramblings - The Ants on the Log

I have a vision in my head of a cluster of ants on a log that is going through river rapids. As they splash and bump and try to hang on, each of the many ants thinks he is steering the log.

That vision applies to higher education in this country.

I was reminded of that as I read an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education a few days ago. It seems the American Council on Education had written a letter to members of Congress regarding the pending reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

The Chronicle article is by subscription only, thus most of you will not be able to read it in its entirety. But, this post is not about the virtues or problems with the bill. Rather its about the mindset of those in higher education.

Wrote David Ward, president of the American Council on Education: Some provisions of the bill could "significantly alter the relationship between the government and high education."

Miscellaneous Ramblings – Technology and the Public’s Perception of War

Lately, I have been fascinated by military bloggers stationed in Iraq, such as those mentioned in my post titled Perspectives from Soldiers in Iraq. I’ve also been inundated with forwarded email messages of a new ilk – the assertion that the news media is distorting the picture in Iraq. I even read an op-ed piece in a newspaper, written by a soldier in Iraq, saying the home front is not getting the correct representation of events.

But I recently came across a set of statistics developed by Mr. Paul Westermeyer. He posted it to a military history list serv, and I was fascinated by it because I am a semi-serious student of warfare, a semi-serious student of the use of technology for education, and a student of technology as communication.

During World War II, the United States suffered 405,399 dead over a period of approximately four years (December 1941 to August 1945.). That works out to about 101,350 killed per year.

The Korean War was fought over a three year period, and we suffered 36,578 killed in action for an average of 12,195 deaths per year.

While true that the United States was involved in Viet Nam for more than ten years, the vast majority of our 58,198 deaths occurred during the period of 1962 to 1972, for an average of 5,800 per year.

In Iraq, as of April 8, or slightly more than one year of combat, we had suffered 643 deaths. We’ll list that as our yearly average.

Mr. Westermeyer goes on to state that our casualties thus far in Iraq are only 11% of the average suffered during the average year in Viet Nam. They are only .05% of the casualties suffered on average in Korea. Finally, 643 KIAs is only .006% of the casualties suffered per year during World War II.

In other words, despite the large number of troops committed to Iraq, it is an observable fact that our casualties are drastically lower than in previous conflicts.

Miscellaneous Ramblings – America Doesn’t Deserve These People

Well, maybe the title is a little strong, but not by much. I was in the company of heroes today

C and I drove to Ft. Hood, Texas, and had the incredible honor of being in the presence of the wives and two of the wounded from the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. The battalion has been in Iraq since March.

We met four of the wives from Charlie Company for lunch. One of the women had her first baby three days before Daddy deployed. He has since been wounded, although only slightly. Another is raising three year old twins by herself. A third is raising her two daughters while her wounded husband recuperates and prepares to return to Iraq in two weeks. These are tough women! No whining. No complaining.

As one told me, she knows her husband’s soldiers are more important to him than she is – and that is okay. She knew she was marrying a career soldier, and that’s part of why she loves him.

Later in the evening, we gathered at the battalion headquarters building for a covered dish supper and a prayer vigil. Open, heartfelt prayers for the soldiers – and they asked nothing for themselves but the safe return of their men.

I watched and listened to this group of women, and I thought of all the complaining I hear in my daily life about the high price of gas for the family SUV, or how miserable people are in their jobs, or whether we should be using Styrofoam rather than china coffee cups at church. Yet these uncomplaining women are bound together by a strength unimagined by most people. While most of us bitch in the midst of our unbridled conspicuous consumption, these women face impeding tragedy with smiles, laughter, and true bravery.

Nope – not really sure unappreciative America deserves these true heroines.

Miscellaneous Ramblings - Frozen Yogurt

I had to run some errands during work today. They had to be done during the day because I'll be working late tonight.

And this would be my chance - - while out, I would be able to score some chocolate frozen yogurt!

But - - - it is impossible to find yogurt shop that is open at 10:30 in the morning.

My heart broke.