August 3, 1997 - Communion

970803 - Sunday.  Chapel here was ok. We had communion and that was great! It really helped me focus my trust for this upcoming week on God. He'll pull me through. Today was a good day of rest but I'm looking forward to this week because I want to go home and after this week there'll be 1 less week. Right now there are 26 more motivated days left on this island.
 It's difficult to express how great it was to have communion on the day before heading to the rifle range, which is probably the most difficult single test in all of boot camp.

Up to this point, throughout all of boot camp, we were told to get just get through. We were told to get tougher, get stronger, be better, on our own. We were also told to rely on our fellow recruits to help us to get through. Even I, the drama-loving-too-smart-to-stop-talking-too-weak-to-belong recruit was called upon to help fellow recruits make it through.

At previous Chapel services, and even at this one, we were given a basic encouragement, sort of based on Scripture. But we were never actually given the real Gospel. But today was different.

Today we had communion.

Today, we had a true, tactile representation of the reality that we can't do it.

We can't succeed.

We can't make ourselves good enough.

Good enough for the Marines? Maybe. But what does that mean in comparison to being good enough for God.

Nothing.

And there, we're sunk, and so are our fellow recruits. But, there's Good News. Someone who was good enough gave us His perfect record and took our record of being not smart enough, not obedient enough, not squared-away enough. He took our imperfect record and gave us His. And communion is a tangible representation of all of that; it's a representation of our unworthiness, and the need for His sacrifice, and His willingness to provide that sacrifice so that we could be made worthy. So, having that reminder just before heading into this most-dependent-on-my-ability week was just what I needed.

I might not make it through this week acceptable to Marines. But I was acceptable to God. What else matters?

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