Chappy's Free Chicken

  “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” ~ Prov. 30:5-6 ESV               The last two weeks have been explosive from the American perspective: the NEO in Afghanistan, the suicide bomber attack which killed 11 Marines, a Corpsman, a Soldier, and scores of Afghans, mass resettlement and vetting issues of the Afghan refugees, COVID issues, flooding, hurricanes … you name it! And I thought 2020 had been the worst so far. In hindsight, I believe it was just the charge igniting the powder on which the world appears to rest.             There are some who follow every new issue, form an opinion or an argument, and then lifts and shifts as each new wave of immediacy rears its ugly head. There are some who are aware of things and, at times, get riled up (...

  Escape Room ~ 20210826                Have you ever done an Escape Room? I did one yesterday under the guise of a “site visit” for future leadership and resilience events. It was everything I had hoped for and more. The experience lasted only an hour, but I was humbled. We got out of the room, but we couldn’t connect the dots – I couldn’t connect the dots – to open the safe in the last room and claim the jackpot available. I told my son, Angus, afterward, “The experience makes me realize how much I miss in my day-to-day. So many things are going on and I’m tunnel visioned and miss so many things, so many opportunities.” My perspective is on that which I’m focused, and this reality leaves me vulnerable and ignorant. It leaves me clueless to the evidence – the dots – which are readily available to anyone of us who are willing to step back and see a bigger picture. This, and a few other things, were some of the observations I believe are rel...

  Proverbs 25:21-22 ESV   “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the  Lord  will reward you. ”               It’s interesting, in 2021, that our concept of how to treat one another seems to have been lost in the sauce of the COVID pandemic, the death of George Floyd, the subsequent outrage and riots, the mandate for masks and vaccinations, elections, storming the Capitol, CRT, wokeness, the cancel culture movement … you name it. Our nation … our world … has been presented with multiple opportunities to be at odds with one another.               All too often, I believe, we find ourselves struggling through the crucible of adversity, like we have since 2020, and our response is to cannibalize our neighbor. You have a different ...

  Proverbs 24:5-6 ESV   “5  A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might, 6  for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.”               As we consider this verse, I think we first need to understand the definition of a “wise man.” From a contemporary perspective, we could say a man is wise if he is “a man of unusual learning, judgement, or insight.” [1] Historically speaking, and in the context of the Bible, a wise man was “a man versed in esoteric lore (as of magic or astrology).” [2] These are very simplistic definitions but they provide us a platform from which we can gauge our understanding of what it means to be a wise man.             In the context of the Book of Proverbs, these statements were intertwined among a collection of sayings which were ...

Noncombatant Evacuation Operation, otherwise known as NEO, is something I’ve become familiar with over the last few years while working in Japan. However, my familiarity with NEO has been limited to such operations in the Indo-Pacific considering the threat of North Korea, China, and Russia. Never, in those same few years, would I have considered our Nation conducting a NEO in Afghanistan. NEO is an expansive endeavor which requires multiple echelons of coordinated effort. Without going into detail, if you’ve never participated or seen what a NEO looks like, I recommend you consider keeping updated on the ongoing situation in Afghanistan or watch a movie called Greenland . Despite it being a Hollywood perspective of NEO, Greenland should give you an idea of the number of challenges every level of operations might experience to execute a NEO successfully: from the boots on the ground providing security to the diplomatic efforts required to ensure safe passage of evacuees … all with t...