Stairway to Heaven - Student Chosen (Adam Stillabower)

     A little background about me, I enlisted in the Army Reserves right out of high school, leaving for Basic Training at Fort Benning Georgia the September after I graduated. I am not going to take credit for this line, but I believe that one of my fellow Soldiers hit the nail on the head when he said that the experience was “the best fun I never want to have again.” Looking back, almost four years later and remembering all the stress, shenanigans, and friendships that I had made makes me both happy and proud of all I have been able to accomplish. One of the events that made me the proudest was the completion of our final 12-mile ruck. To give a little bit of context, we completed this during our last week of training exercises. We had stayed out in the field for a week, did a Night Infiltration Course, went back to the barracks for 3 hours of sleep, and then stepped off for this hike. Upon our return after 5 grueling hours of marching under combat load, I will never forget when our Drill Sergeant told us “happy veterans day privates, get some rest” and left us alone for the entire weekend. The date was November 11th. But on the march, there was a stretch of road nicknamed the Stairway to Heaven. It was a hill that had a very steep grade and seemed to go on for at least 2 miles. When we reached its base, the sun just peaked over the crest of the hill. This is by far my favorite memory from Fort Benning. The sunrise marked the beginning of the next stage of life in the military and I felt ready and prepared to take on the next challenge.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kayla Hammond- Christmas Saves The Year (student choice)

                        On December 8th at 9pm one of my favorite bands released a new Christmas single.  The song is Christmas Saves The Year by Twenty One Pilots. I was notified of the song release moments after I finished reading the chapter on Masks in the Landscapes of the Sacred book. I immediately stopped what I was doing to listen. The song perfectly described this year and how many may be feeling this Christmas season. All while adding a perfect theme of joy and hope. This song was a mask disguised as a message from God, with a deeper hidden meaning in the lyrics.  Snow falls down from the gray sky  Ashes fall in the sea  Plans are thrown to the wayside  Frozen days of the week But everybody wants to make it home this year  Even if the world is crumblin' down' Cause everybody's got somebody who's got their name on a shelf  With cheap decor and flavored cheer  You rest a...
Read more

Kayla Hammond - Prayer as the Posture of the Decentered Self (Phenomenology Reading 2)

      In the first Chapter of the Phenomenology Of Prayer the author explains how prayers can represent the decentered self. He explains this concept through Mary the mother of God. In the bible it explains how an angel named Gabriel was sent down to tell Mary that she will bear a Son whom is holy. Mary's reply was "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." (Luke 1:35-38) In this reply it shows a prayer of decentered self for she recognizes that God is her creator and the highest of power. In addition to this she recognizes that God is the writer of her story. In another example God prayers in a form of decentering self too when he was about to face his death on the cross. In this he says "My Father, if it is not possible this cup shall pass without my drinking it, you will be done".  In both of these examples God nor Mary knows the plan the Lord has for them yet they still are able to trust in the Lord and do as he ple...
Read more

Kip Redick Introduction

  Welcome to the Fall 2020 Sacred Communication/Journey blog page. As I have done with this post, enter your name and a subject for the title of each post. Blog entries will be considered informal writing assignments and as such will be graded more in relation to content than style. Blog entries will contain questions and answers to questions, as well as reflections that relate to daily classroom discussions, completion of exercises, and reading assignments. Any questions the student has while reading or completing assignments should be written in their blog. Reflections may relate to connections the student makes between discussions in this class and those in other classes, between arguments raised in the readings in this class and those raised in other classes or from informal conversations. Students are encouraged to apply the ideas learned in this class to activities that take place outside of the class. These applications make great reflections. The student should br...
Read more