Philippians 3:13 (New Living Translation):
I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past & looking forward to what lies ahead.
I know the above verse from Philippians go against everything I said in Wednesday’s blog post in Looking Forward or Back? as I said:
Looking forward isn’t just about the future, it’s also about the past!
However, not that I’m now trying to get out of it, but when I said the future was also about the past, I wasn’t meaning that we should continue to look backwards, I simply meant that in order to look forward we must use what has happened in the past to help us in the future.
The above bible verse, does back this up as it tells us to forget the past. i.e. don’t live in the past, resting on past successes or despairing over failures, move on with your life and live for what is to come.
No matter what lies ahead for us, God will be there with us, and will give us the energy and the guidance to continue to move forward.
The songs Onward Christian Soldiers and I’ll Go In The Strength of The King both feature in the following music Marching Onward 07 by Brass of Praise at The Royal Albert Hall:
Think about some of your own scars, I’m sure regardless of whether you are thinking about a physical or an emotional scar, they were very painful at the time you received them…and I’m sure some of them are still very raw and painful even now.
After our service this morning, the band headed to Callander to lead a Songs of Praise in the square at 3.30pm and then another in Callander Kirk at 5.30pm. It was a long and tiring day so it was no great surprise to me that I didn’t make it all the way through – I had to stop playing part way through the evening service as I got too sore, but even so I was glad I made the decision to go – Even today although I’m really suffering after the exertions of yesterday. I’m still happy to have made the effort to go with the band to Callander.
The average British soldier is 19 years old…..he is a short haired, well built lad who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears and just old enough to buy a round of drinks but old enough to die for his country – and for you. He’s not particularly keen on hard work but he’d rather be grafting in Afghanistan than unemployed in the UK . He recently left comprehensive school where he was probably an average student, played some form of sport, drove a ten year old rust bucket, and knew a girl that either broke up with him when he left, or swore to be waiting when he returns home. He moves easily to rock and roll or hip-hop or to the rattle of a 7.62mm machine gun.
He is about a stone lighter than when he left home because he is working or fighting from dawn to dusk and well beyond. He has trouble spelling, so letter writing is a pain for him, but he can strip a rifle in 25 seconds and reassemble it in the dark. He can recite every detail of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either effectively if he has to. He digs trenches and latrines without the aid of machines and can apply first aid like a professional paramedic. He can march until he is told to stop, or stay dead still until he is told to move.
He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation but he is not without a rebellious spirit or a sense of personal dignity. He is confidently self-sufficient. He has two sets of uniform with him: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his water bottle full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never forgets to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes and fix his own hurts. If you are thirsty, he’ll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food is your food. He’ll even share his life-saving ammunition with you in the heat of a firefight if you run low.
He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and he is unashamed to show it or admit it. He feels every bugle note of the ‘Last Post’ or ‘Sunset’ vibrate through his body while standing rigidly to attention. He’s not afraid to ‘Bollock’ anyone who shows disrespect when the Regimental Colours are on display or the National Anthem is played; yet in an odd twist, he would defend anyone’s right to be an individual. Just as with generations of young people before him, he is paying the price for our freedom. Clean shaven and baby faced he may be, but be prepared to defend yourself if you treat him like a kid.
Now you’ve read this, please stop for a moment and if you are so inclined, feel free to say a prayer for our troops in the trouble spots of the world. 
