Chaplain: The Legion needs Martha and Mary

Hello, fellow comrades, and welcome to fall! This is one of my favorite times of the year.

The crops are harvested and those beautiful maple leaves are turning a robust orange, red and yellow! Hunting season is starting.

I would like to offer a prayer for all those who will be in duck blinds, tree stands for deer and bear hunting, and my favorite — the elusive ring-necked pheasant. God bless all comrades, family and friends. May you be safe from sunrise to sunset while enjoying God’s green earth; be safe and careful out there!

My post, Bloomington Post 550, held a special event to honor POW/MIAs on Sept. 20, in conjunction with the Bloomington VFW. I had the opening prayer. One of our baseball guys sung the national anthem. Gambling Manager Tim Engstrom performed the POW/MIA table ceremony. VFW Commander Chris Schmidt introduced our guest of honor, Seveing “Kimmy” Suparat — who was a POW for nine years in Vietnam. She is from Laos and was part of the Special Guerilla Unit that fought in the Secret War as surrogates of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Kimmy became a U.S. citizen, even though she had family members remain overseas. Today, she is a member of the Bloomington Honor Guard. Her daughters live in the Twin Cities.

There is a story I would like to share with all of you from the Bible about Martha the sister of Mary who was so busy with meal prep and homemaking duties that she wasn’t focused on her revered guest, Jesus.

Martha is the sister of Mary and Lazarus. We find Martha mentioned in three places in the Bible, serving Jesus at her home.

The first mention of Martha in the Bible is Luke 10 where she is in her home and hosting a meal for Jesus and the Disciples, mourning the death of Lazarus. The next time we see Martha in Scriptures is just after the death of her brother Lazarus (John II). The last time we come across Martha in the Bible she was back in the role of hostess at a dinner in Jesus’ honor (John 12:2).

This was the dinner where Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume. Martha was upset that Mary had left her to do the kitchen work by herself. Jesus told Martha she was worried about many things, but only few things are needed. Mary had chosen a different task.

The lesson here is that we need many types of people to be successful. We need Marthas. We need Marys. We have our roles in fulfilling the national commander’s theme of Better Together.

Jim Mead of Bloomington Post 550 is the chaplain for The American Legion Department of Minnesota.