Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor Awarded to Army Chaplain Emil Kapaun 

(60 years after his death as POW in Korea)

President Obama called Kapaun "an American soldier who didn't fire a gun, but who wielded the mightiest weapon of all... a love for his brothers so pure that he was willing to die so they might live." He was called the "shepherd in combat boots."  He carried a wounded soldier 4 miles in a forced march as a POW. 

It is utterly breathless to see the scripture lived out in such a act of bravery on behalf of another person.  John's Gospel put it this way:  "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."  

The Daily Medal

Every day we carry people's lives.  With words said, actions taken, prayers uttered--we carry the burden of the lives of so many others.  Like the chaplain, by sharing our lives--others are "saved" as they are released from whatever imprisons them.  Recently I watched a very loving daughter embrace her mother as the mother died.  I saw in her the power to carry another human life.  I also saw the ICU staff support this daughter in her amazing grace-filled embrace. 

No medals are given.  But life flares up like fatwood, the dross burned away and the real essence of a person revealed, as the poet says, still trailing clouds of glory.