Yesterday was Mike Stokely’s birthday and I can’t believe I didn’t write this then. To his family, please accept my apologies for being late. To his friends, and battle buddies, let’s raise a glass in his honor that we may never forget him. Born April 19, 1982 Mike lived a short but fulfilling life in the service of our Lord and his country.
What can we learn from a life lived in the service of our Lord and country that at first appearance seems to have been cut short, and unfulfilled? A lot in fact. Mike’s life was not cut short, and yes, while we would all love to have him here with us in the flesh, we know that he is still working through us and here with us in spirit. Mike led his life with a purpose and like everything he did he did it with the Lord and his fellow man in his mind. When duty called he said “Send me!” when others debated, he served.
He served.
Mike lived his life so that someone else wouldn’t have to do the things he did do. In thinking about the essay I shared with my friends from Confederate Yankee, Mike was a sheepdog. He devoted his life to making sure that the sheep, us, were kept safe. He trained, he suffered, he sacrificed, but always he was ready. When his friends that had left the service had expressed an interest in returning to join them in deployment, Mike said, “You served your time, now it is my time.”
When a life is taken from us our first inclination is to curse the Lord for taking this person away from us, but in doing so we have revealed to ourselves and those around us that this person was a driving force in our lives. When someone dies it should be a sad occasion and difficult for us, for if it is not then that person was not living their life touching others. Mike Stokely was born on April 19, 1982 and on God’s Calendar it was already determined that he would come home to him on August 16, 2005 at 2:22 am near Yusufiyah Iraq, and up until that day Mike lived a life serving others. It is only fitting that his passing be a solemn and sad occasion. But that does not mean we can not celebrate his life and strive to emulate him and his service.
Just after the first of the year I was afforded the opportunity to view the memorial service of Sgt Mike Stokely, His father had sent me a copy of the service on DVD so that I could be a part of the continuing shadow of his presence. In that service I heard the pastor say something that struck me as so fundamentally true and yet so simple that most people would never think of it, but it strikes true to our belief that service is the reward for our lives. The pastor said, “Honor is not the reward for what one receives, Honor is the reward for what one gives.”
Honor is the reward for what one gives.
How fitting a tribute to give on the birth day of a man that brought forth those words from a pastor over 20 years later. Major General Joshua Chamberlain spoke such similar words nearly 125 years ago at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Battlefield, he said:
"In great deeds something abides. On great fields something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear; but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls. And reverent men and women from afar, and generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream; and lo! The shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls. This is the great reward of service. To live, far out and on, in the life of others; this is the mystery of the Christ,-to give life's best for such high sake that it shall be found again unto life eternal.”
Unto life eternal…this is the life Mike Stokely was born into on April 19, 1982. People are remembered for the things they endure, shall we be remembered for enduring enslavement or will we follow Mike’s lead and be remembered for a life of service in pursuit of freedom?
Rest in peace brother and Happy Birthday.
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