An Invocation Prayer

My uncle George knew I wanted to follow in his footsteps. He'd been in the Navy in the late 70s and early 80s and my memories of him are mostly of a barrel chested big voiced larger-than-life freedom-fighting hero.

As I began following the trail he blazed, at a certain point, when I'd passed some of the more difficult initial tests to get where he'd been, and he felt I'd started to actually earn it, he passed on a poster to me.

I framed the poster, and it has hung in a place of honor in every place I've lived since I received it.

The poster is of an invocation prayer for his unit at an award ceremony in 1975. It has a picture of a Navy chaplain with arms raised and palms facing out as he delivers both a blessing and an exhortation.

For some odd reason, it reminds me of Hunter S. Thompson; probably the look of the chaplain combined with the biblical power of the prayer and the odd twists it takes at the end.

Though I'm not a religious guy by a long stretch, this prayer has been and will continue to be an important part of my life.

I thought I'd share some of my favorite parts with you:

"Dear Father in Heaven, if I may respectfully say so, sometimes you are a strange God. Though you love all mankind, it seems You have special predilections too. You seem to love those men who can stand alone, who face impossible odds, who challenge every bully and every tyrant -- those men who know the heat and loneliness of a Calvary."

He goes on to talk about some specifics, then says:

"And when they do come to Heaven, may I respectfully warn You, dear Father, they also know how to celebrate. So please be ready for them when they insert under your pearly gates."

Here's hoping that you, my Paleo Treats peeps, are equally inspired, as I've been, to both face impossible odds and at the end of the day, to know how to celebrate.

All we're absolutely sure of is the moment. Use this one, and the next, and the next, to full advantage.

To life!

Rock 'n roll,
Nik @ PT

Nik Hawks

Author

Nik Hawks helps run the show at Paleo Treats. Fascinated by humans in all their strange glory, Nik is harnessed in and pulling hard in pursuit of excellence with the rest of the PT Crew. Enjoy!

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