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The Influence of a Single Life
By Ken Horn | April 30, 2008
My friend Chaplain Scott McChrystal, COL, USA Ret., director of the military side of Assemblies of God Chaplaincy Ministries, just sent the following article out in his Chaplaincy Newsletter. Scott spent seven years as senior chaplain at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
A Letter from Christ
By Scott McChrystal
“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.” 2 Corinthians 3:2
In a world containing almost six billion people, often our tendency is to underestimate the influence of a single life. Last week provided me a vivid reminder of this truth.
On Thursday, I received news that First Lieutenant Tim Cunningham died in Iraq on April 23. He was serving with the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The death of this 26-year-old infantry officer from Texas has left my family and me stunned. The reason is simple. In the three years that we knew him at West Point, he had a profound impact on the McChrystal family, on the staff and faculty, and on hundreds of his fellow cadets.
Tim entered West Point in the summer of 2002, just one month after his older brother, John David, had graduated from the same institution. I met him during Cadet Basic Training and quickly saw Tim as a most impressive and caring young man. I also noted that he signed up to teach children’s Sunday School, an activity he did all four years at West Point. During two of those years, one of his Sunday School students was our youngest son, Josh. Josh is now a cadet at West Point and fondly remembers the genuine interest that Tim had shown in him. Tim not only taught Josh about Jesus; he modeled the Christian life in a quiet and credible fashion. Tim truly loved Josh, and Josh knew it. Josh had emailed back and forth with Tim only days before Tim’s death.
It’s appropriate for people to say nice things about a person who has died, particularly a young patriot who gave his life for defense of his country. It’s even better when the things which are said are true. In Tim’s case, they are. Rev. Alfred Perry of the First Baptist Church in Rosharon, Texas, where Tim’s father is music minister, said this: “He was the type of young man who makes you proud to be an American.” I couldn’t agree more.
Reverend Cynthia Lindenmeyer, a chaplain at West Point during Tim’s cadet years, called me over the weekend and told me she will be presiding at Tim’s funeral. She also told me something else. On the day following Tim’s death, she received a birthday card from Tim. Tim was like that — up until the day he died.
Tim was a letter from Christ, known and read by everybody. I believe the same is true about each of you.
Topics: U.S. Missions, Christian living |
