Chaplain's Corner

  • Published
  • By Chaplain Bill Yates
  • 181st IW
Hulman Field, Ind. --  This is a fun time of year if you like to read the covers of magazines and tune into all the predictions for the New Year.
Or, you can opt for the way the Procrastinators Club of America handles it. They just now got around to their annual predictions for 2004. The PCA boasts a 100% accuracy rate. How do they do it? President Lester Wass reveals the secret: "It's all a matter of timing. Instead of making predictions at the beginning of the year, we make them at the end. We find that helps our success rate." Yes, the PCA is behind us all the way! They base their skill on "aftcasting" which works much better than forecasting.
As we enter a new year, wouldn't it be great if we could know the future with as much success as the Procrastinators Club of America predicts the past? Instead we live in what my Air War College studies called the "VUCA" environment. What does that mean? It means our lives and military service take place in a world that is vulnerable, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Our transition from F-16s to Intel has shown us this fact, maybe more than we care to admit. What have all the changes been like for you?
Larry Henshaw told a news reporter about the time his home was rocked by an earthquake. His daughters Debbie and Carol were sleeping when suddenly their beds slid and crashed into the door of their bedroom. They panicked and screamed for help. Good old Dad raced to their room and spoke calmly: "Don't worry, girls! You're Henshaw's, and Henshaw's know how to keep cool heads in a crisis." Carol's little voice came from the other side of the door: "Daddy, I think we take after Mommy's side of the family."
One of the classic hymns sung at New Years is "Our God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come." Hope is powerful and necessary to step into the future with confidence and expectancy. Since God lives in the eternal realm, he is already waiting for us in the future. The great news is that he has his eye on us and includes us in His grand work for the good of the world. That gives me hope.
Procrastinators believe that tomorrow never comes - even when it's tomorrow! I think we'd all agree that "tomorrow is today" at the 181st. We've come a long way and are ready to engage our new mission and go online. It's easy to "aftcast." I'd rather forecast. I am confident that we will master all the challenges, continue to grow and succeed. Please know the chapel staff stands ready to support you with our many quality of life programs geared especially for this new Intel environment.