Life as A Chaplain

Well, it has been a long time since I’ve posted anything. I’ve traveled a few thousand miles in the meantime and have put in a few hundred hours of work. Yes, I am now a working stiff like everyone else. I’ve been here in Okinawa, Japan since the 23rd of April. It took me a while to adjust to the new climate, but I think I’m fitting in well. I’m getting used to the humid weather and the frequent rainstorms. I’m also starting to find my military bearing, though I doubt that I’ll ever be a poster boy for any Navy recruiting campaign.

Since I’ve been here I’ve had quite a lot of “firsts” in my life. I’ve delivered my first American Red Cross message (actually three in the first two days!), which was really rough. I’ve decided that I hate giving people bad news. No one wants to hear that their son or grandfather or aunt died, but death is a part of life so here I am! I must say though, that there is something sacred about sharing in the first moments of somebody else’s grief—it truly is a ministry and a calling.

I’ve also experienced my first mess night in the Navy. (See http://www.history.navy.mil/library/special/mess_night.htm for a good explanation of what a mess night generally entails). On thing the above site does not mention is that various fines are levied for violations of mess rules. As a new officer, I got picked on and had to drink out of the grog bowl twice as payment for the violations of others. I chose the non-alcoholic version of course, which was a combination of Tabasco sauce, snausages (a doggy snack food), jalapeno cheese spread and other items. Thankfully, I have an iron stomach and was able to impress the mess with the cool manner in which I downed this concoction.

Another first for me is having people work under me. I manage five people, all junior enlisted personnel. I have a religious program specialist (RP) who helps me with my chaplain job. Since I am also the public affairs officer (PAO), I manage a photographer and a journalist (currently, a builder fills the journalist billet). I also have a culinary specialist (CS) who was serving as the old chaplain’s RP and a builder (BU) who is helping us renovate the chapel. We are a motley crew, but we do have a lot of fun. Amazingly, we actually do a fair amount of work despite the fact that almost all of us are slackers. The biggest project we’re working on right now is finishing up the cruise book for this deployment (similar to a yearbook).

Tonight, I’ll host my first Sunday evening service. It will be really informal, a few songs followed by a Bible study, culminating in communion.

Meanwhile, Melissa has had the fun job of unpacking all the boxes at our new home in Port Hueneme, CA. We live on base in a house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We have a wonderfully large kitchen, a nice back yard for the pets and more closet space than we could ever need, all of which makes Melissa very happy. Of course, Melissa is also happy because she’s getting to spend all my money. She’s purchased new furniture for us and has spent the last couple of days designing window treatments with her sister.

Anyway, this post grows long and I should try and knock out some e-mails before the service starts…

Cheers,
Peter