Before I deployed to Afghanistan I told my uncle that I was scared to die. He told me that just because I am going to war in Afghanistan does not mean that I will die there. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.(Matthew 24:42) This is so simple, I could just as easily die crossing the streets in America as I could being shot by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Why should I worry?

Who likes talking about death?

Honestly, I have no desire to talk about death. I do however want to talk about Heaven. I want to talk about believing in something besides ourselves.

Yada yada yada blah blah blah

Why don’t you write about something interesting and worth reading?
Something about your job, perhaps another titillating story of rocks and sling shot battles.

Well my intrigued readers, I would rather write about something much more important. I would rather tell you to not lose faith in God and to not lose faith in yourselves.

Many of my associates have lost faith in God, they have lost faith in everything that is important. So by losing faith in the important things they bring themselves to believe in earthly god’s. Furthermore, they believe in earthly pleasures instead of unearthly pleasures.

Us Infantrymen work in an occupation where death is an everyday hazard, so don’t you think that it should cross our minds what will happen to us if we die? Nine times out of ten it doesn’t.

Oh boy here he goes again with the morbid stuff…just wait he will probably get more depressing in a second…

 To tell you the truth I am scared to death of going to hell, so me dying without monthly confession is an ugly thing. I hate hearing my comrades in arms curse God and blame him for bad things that happen. Where does that get you? The answer is, NOWHERE! I thought that most people were scared of hell, the truth is half of the guys I work with would rather go there then Heaven. I believe that hell is an evil place and going there means an eternity of pain that noone on earth can even imagine. Not just a physical pain, mind you, but a spiritual pain as well. This pain is a result from the loss of God, the complete and utter loss of knowing that you can not be saved. By then it is too late, you can never turn back to God and ask Him for forgiveness. You abandoned Him, and in the end He abandoned you.

What does this guy know?
Are you some kind of religous mystic?
Why should your opinion mean anything to us?

Well folks, my hope is that you question what I have said. My hope is that you have faith in what I have said. I am asking you to believe in God, believe in a Heaven, and work towards that. Just because you believe in God does not mean that you are saved from Hell. You have to work for what you believe in. You must desire Heaven above all else because life on Earth is so incredibly small compared to a life of eternity. Live in the moment, but look towards the future. Help those that cannot help themselves, remember the beatitudes! Kindness to others results in returned kindness to you when you need it the most.