This Vietnam Veteran Reflects

. . . on a crisis of conscience

author at Coastal Group 34 in the Mekong Delta, 1970

As we worry about the security of our democracy, there are numerous triggers in the news which increase our stress and wear us down. How can we remain healthy and sane?

Take action: We need to organize with local allies to resist attempts to undermine the Constitution.

Rest: Also, we need to take time to rest to fortify our physical, mental, and spiritual health.

I'll be 80 this coming week. This octogenarian and war veteran rests his body, mind, and spirit four ways:

1. I meditate. As soon as I rise, I practice either t'ai chi (a practice called T'ai Chi Chih), or SKY breathing (an acronym for Sudarshan Kriya, a deep breathing practice of yoga). T'ai Chi Chih is commonly a standing practice; SKY breathing is a seated one. I practice these two forms of meditation on alternate days. I could meditate any time of day, but I've found that if I don't do it first thing in the morning, I'm likely to skip it later when errands and appointments vie for my attention.

2. I walk, a lot! I live near a wooded city park. I walk there, among trees and birds, four-legged creatures and what singer-song writer, Greg Brown, calls a "laughing river." To remember and archive my meanderings I always take a camera of some sort, and my phone for both photography and recording bird songs. Recently I took some photos after a very sticky snow:

3. I create Substack posts and YouTube videos with material from my outings. Today's Substack post is my 86th. I'm grateful for the broad range of communication resources that Substack affords: text, photos, videos, and podcasts. I haven't tried livestream meetings with subscribers because I lack the gift of gab.

4. I hang out with several "tribes". A tribe for me is a group of people who share deep values similar to mine, and who encourage and support me. Several of my tribes are religious. I'm a retired pastor who has had a lifetime interest in religion, and more broadly in spirituality. My own faith community, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. encourages interfaith collaboration. After my retirement, the local unit of my denomination, New Castle Presbytery, which covers all of Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland, commissioned me as an Interfaith Peacemaker. Fulfilling that calling I worship with Quakers, Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, Baha'is, Unitarians, Episcopalians, Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists, and Roman Catholics.

Another of my tribes consists of military veterans. I'm a Vietnam combat veteran. In 2015 I founded the Interfaith Veterans' Workgroup to prevent veteran suicide in Delaware. Veteran members of IVW deal with post traumatic stress by meditating, writing, creating visual art (painting, drawing, photography) and hiking. When we enlisted all of us took the following oath:

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Many military veterans still subscribe to the values of that oath. We still feel morally obligated to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. These days many of us are in a moral bind, however. We presumed that the Commander in Chief, who takes this oath too, would act in accordance with it. However, we observe that the present Commander in Chief is doing his best to undermine the Constitution. Therefore, as citizens who have served as defenders of our homeland, must we morally support his orders? To resolve this crisis of conscience it's up to us to define what it currently means for us to "bear true faith and allegiance" to the Constitution. Perhaps it means to resist his orders.