Sundown
Eight-year-olds, Dude...
The Better Beer Prayer
One of the first things that many Marines look forward to upon returning from deployment is celebrating their homecoming with a few cold beers. Lt. Cmdr Phillip Lee who serves as Chaplain for the 8th Communication Battalion, currently deployed, understands that tending to the needs of his Marines sometimes covers subjects never addressed in divinity school . . . and that spirit-filled has more than one meaning:
I have been around Marines long enough to know Memorial Day was a challenge for many of you. A challenge because you were not able to share a beer with your buddies during a barbecue unofficially marking the beginning of summer. I have also heard many of you have discovered the "near-beer" (nonalcoholic beverages with beer-like flavor) available here doesn't quite measure up to. After PT in the hot sun or at the end of a hard work day, having a beer to relax probably sounds pretty good to many of you. I know some of you may lay awake at night dreaming about having a "cold one." Beer commercials on TV would be sheer torture to a few of you in your current mental state having been deprived of what you crave. Out of concern for your morale and well being, as we enter into the hotter summer months, I wanted you to know I am praying for your emotional stamina and endurance. To represent my prayers for you, I have decided to reprint a prayer drafted about eight years ago at the request of a master sergeant in Yuma, Ariz. (another hot place).
I was on a short deployment with Marine Aircraft Group 41. I arrived on station a day before the main body as the advance party. The master sergeant in the group sounded off after I entered the room where they were celebrating their success of having everything ready. He said, "Chaplain, you know what we need is a better beer prayer."
He was half joking and probably trying to see how I would react. They do that sometimes, as many of you already know. We laughed and I replied, "That's a new request for me, master sergeant. Let me think about it and I will see what I can do." To be honest, my reply was about as serious as his initial request. In the next few days, I couldn't get his request out of my mind. So one night I took up my pen and wrote the following words:
Dear God, Maker of the heavens and the earth: We know you are the creator of all good things. For that reason we come now before you to ask for a better beer. We request it have a taste like unto the sweet nectars of the Garden of Eden. May the blend of its flavor pour gently over our tongues and satisfy not only the thirst of our mouths, but the longings of our souls.
Make this beer so good all who drink it will no longer drink the present beers which often lead people to bring injury to children, other drivers or themselves. Make it a beer that multiplies wisdom, instead of killing brain cells. Lord, you know we human beings really cannot afford to sacrifice many brain cells anyway.
Finally, Lord we ask this beer would be so good its consumption would never cause us to jeopardize or sacrifice our relationship with others or you. May the camaraderie generated by this beer make the celebrations and special occasions of our lives even more special by helping us to fully appreciate one of the most sacred dimensions of life-fellowship with our friends, loved ones and you.
Hear our prayer, oh Lord. Improve our lives with a better beer such as we have described and if you can think of any further improvements, by all means please act on our behalf.
By Your Leave, Sir
Written for U. S. Marines
Semper Fi
Since the first printing of this prayer I have kept my eyes open to see if such a beer has come into existence. I haven't seen it yet, but I am still hopeful. If nothing else has come from the master sergeant's request, may it be you find yourself thinking more carefully about the choices you make the next time you decide to celebrate.
The reprinting of this prayer is dedicated to all the master sergeants of 8th Communication Battalion because it was a master sergeant who first requested such spiritual support. (Ephesians 5:15-20)
Amen.
http://marinecorpsmoms.com/archives/2005/06/the_better_beer.html
One of the first things that many Marines look forward to upon returning from deployment is celebrating their homecoming with a few cold beers. Lt. Cmdr Phillip Lee who serves as Chaplain for the 8th Communication Battalion, currently deployed, understands that tending to the needs of his Marines sometimes covers subjects never addressed in divinity school . . . and that spirit-filled has more than one meaning:
I have been around Marines long enough to know Memorial Day was a challenge for many of you. A challenge because you were not able to share a beer with your buddies during a barbecue unofficially marking the beginning of summer. I have also heard many of you have discovered the "near-beer" (nonalcoholic beverages with beer-like flavor) available here doesn't quite measure up to. After PT in the hot sun or at the end of a hard work day, having a beer to relax probably sounds pretty good to many of you. I know some of you may lay awake at night dreaming about having a "cold one." Beer commercials on TV would be sheer torture to a few of you in your current mental state having been deprived of what you crave. Out of concern for your morale and well being, as we enter into the hotter summer months, I wanted you to know I am praying for your emotional stamina and endurance. To represent my prayers for you, I have decided to reprint a prayer drafted about eight years ago at the request of a master sergeant in Yuma, Ariz. (another hot place).
I was on a short deployment with Marine Aircraft Group 41. I arrived on station a day before the main body as the advance party. The master sergeant in the group sounded off after I entered the room where they were celebrating their success of having everything ready. He said, "Chaplain, you know what we need is a better beer prayer."
He was half joking and probably trying to see how I would react. They do that sometimes, as many of you already know. We laughed and I replied, "That's a new request for me, master sergeant. Let me think about it and I will see what I can do." To be honest, my reply was about as serious as his initial request. In the next few days, I couldn't get his request out of my mind. So one night I took up my pen and wrote the following words:
Dear God, Maker of the heavens and the earth: We know you are the creator of all good things. For that reason we come now before you to ask for a better beer. We request it have a taste like unto the sweet nectars of the Garden of Eden. May the blend of its flavor pour gently over our tongues and satisfy not only the thirst of our mouths, but the longings of our souls.
Make this beer so good all who drink it will no longer drink the present beers which often lead people to bring injury to children, other drivers or themselves. Make it a beer that multiplies wisdom, instead of killing brain cells. Lord, you know we human beings really cannot afford to sacrifice many brain cells anyway.
Finally, Lord we ask this beer would be so good its consumption would never cause us to jeopardize or sacrifice our relationship with others or you. May the camaraderie generated by this beer make the celebrations and special occasions of our lives even more special by helping us to fully appreciate one of the most sacred dimensions of life-fellowship with our friends, loved ones and you.
Hear our prayer, oh Lord. Improve our lives with a better beer such as we have described and if you can think of any further improvements, by all means please act on our behalf.
By Your Leave, Sir
Written for U. S. Marines
Semper Fi
Since the first printing of this prayer I have kept my eyes open to see if such a beer has come into existence. I haven't seen it yet, but I am still hopeful. If nothing else has come from the master sergeant's request, may it be you find yourself thinking more carefully about the choices you make the next time you decide to celebrate.
The reprinting of this prayer is dedicated to all the master sergeants of 8th Communication Battalion because it was a master sergeant who first requested such spiritual support. (Ephesians 5:15-20)
Amen.
http://marinecorpsmoms.com/archives/2005/06/the_better_beer.html
