The Firing Line
The Firing Line
With no other options an anonymous soldier walked slowly to the top of the hill, towards the front line. He could hear the explosions and the gunfire as he edged his way forward.
He stood on the edge of the hill and looked towards the battlefield, which was a terrifying and lonely place. Hoping for the best, he started shooting aimlessly into the distance. But this just didn’t seem to remove the terrible fear and discomfort. In fact the longer he was stood on the edge the more uncomfortable he began to feel.
Before long he noticed that in amongst the chaos were people making their way through the minefields and gunfire, and they seemed to be avoiding the explosions, reaching the apparent safety at the other side of the hill.
He decided to find somebody that knew the safest way across and follow them to the other side. He knew that his life depended upon it.
It wasn’t long before somebody turned up. He seemed very eager to get back across. The anonymous soldier followed him closely as they both weaved in and out of the gunfire and precariously side-stepped the landmines. He noticed snipers firing at them from both sides but he kept trudging and before long they both arrived safely at the other side.
The Anonymous soldier felt elated, having gone through hell to get there. He sat down and started to take it easy. He felt more comfortable than he had in a long time.
Realizing that the field they had just come through, was one of many and that the next one looked equally as fraught. The anonymous soldier began to wonder if he hadn’t already done enough.
His guide started marching onwards through the next field.
A very disgruntled anonymous soldier shouted out, “wait for me!” only to be told by his sponsor, “No! You now have to go back on your own and help somebody else. Rely on your training, trust in God and go back to help others. Regardless of all the crap we just keep marching and try to help bring others to a place of safety. With these motives in mind God will keep us unharmed.”
The anonymous soldier eventually got up off his ass and started carefully making his way back to the firing line, to find another soldier to help. Only this time it seemed that more and more of those damned snipers had focused their sights on him. The more confident he became and the more use that he was to others, the more those snipers fired. He remembered what his sponsor said as he weaved through the minefield. He trusted in his training and continued to march.
He found his first man and led him back to safety. Standing at the end of the first field, looking out towards the next, he wondered should he press on alone after all? So far he had been okay. Deciding to seek direction he called his sponsor and followed his advice. By this time the battlefield seemed to be getting quieter and what at first seemed a duty to help others was now also becoming a pleasure.
In fear, the anonymous soldier had found a strength and courage which he never knew existed and a new purpose to live for. Resilience and fortitude under attack, he just kept marching and trying to help others do the same.
If you want to survive the trials and low spots, if you want to survive the peril of safety, then get up off your ass and be the anonymous soldier!
WP 7/1/13