I remember the sense of helplessness I felt as I read this headline in our local newspaper on April 2: “Legalizing rape of wife setback in Afghanistan.” The article that followed contained news of Afghanistan's proposed Shia family law, and went on to speak of the demoralizing effect such news must have on Canadian soldiers patrolling the most dangerous territories of Afghanistan.

The article was still fresh in my mind when, in the midst of preparing dinner, I was caught off-guard by hearing a radio news report that a second female Canadian soldier, Trooper Karine Blais, had been killed in the line of duty on April 13. The news hit me hard because I have a daughter named Corinne, pronounced in a similar way to Karine. This brought a more personal link with this soldier than others who have died while fighting for the cause of freedom and social justice in Afghanistan.

My daughter is a soldier, too. In fact, she is an officer, but in a different army, The Salvation Army, God's army, which also deploys its troops in the cause of freedom and social justice, but using scriptural imperatives as its mandate.

This wake-up call was a precursor to another that happened a few days later
It was precipitated by what I had regarded as a disaster in our home; though it should, perhaps, have been more aptly described as a “storm in a tea cup,” in light of what I have just shared. We entertained some friends for dinner and put our silverware, which we only use on special occasions, in the dishwasher, as we had done several times before. This time, however, instead of emerging sparkling and clean, each item we lifted out was dull.

What was to be done? We live in a small town, so no silversmiths were listed in the yellow pages. But, given the lovely spring sunshine of an afternoon a few days later, we decided to walk up and down the main street to see if we could find someone who could help us. To our surprise and delight, we saw a newly opened jewellery repair store. We went in, produced one of the offending forks, and the goldsmith said he thought he could help us. I returned the next day, left all the silverware with him, and within half an hour he had restored each piece to its original gleaming glory. I was so excited that I took several of his business cards, telling him I would spread the good news of this “saviour.”

How intentional had I been about speaking about my Lord and Saviour; about sharing the good news of the freedom that Jesus came to bring; about telling other people about the restoration of tarnished lives that is possible because of that first Easter?

As I was driving home the wake-up call came. Just six days before I had celebrated the most brilliant piece of “freedom-fighting” ever recorded in the history of the world. On Easter Sunday, I had sung the praises of the Saviour of the world. But what had I done in the days that had followed to get the word out?

Yes, I had sought to follow Francis of Assisi's great dictum: “Preach always, and if you must, use words,” but how intentional had I been about speaking about my Lord and Saviour; about sharing the good news of the freedom that Jesus came to bring; about telling other people about the restoration of tarnished lives that is possible because of that first Easter? In my heart, I knew that the same level of eagerness had not been there. I felt thoroughly ashamed of myself.

So, I am glad to be writing this blog. It will help me to hold myself accountable, to remind me to ask God to help me to keep the “main thing the main thing” in regard to both the big and small things that claim my attention from day-to-day and form the subject of my conversations. And maybe, just maybe, the sense of helplessness I recorded at the beginning of this blog will give way to a sense of hopefulness because, while there are many things I cannot do to make a difference, there are also many things that I can, so long as I pay heed to the wake-up calls that come every day of my life.

Colonel Gwenyth Redhead is a retired Salvation Army officer. She and her husband, Robert, have held a wide variety of appointments in the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand. However, her passion has always been to encourage others in creative responses to God through writing of scripts, stories, articles and lyrics (mostly to Robert's music). She has two daughters, Joanne and Corinne, and rejoices that they, too, use the creativity God has given them in ministry.