I'd like to share a humorous video with you before we begin.

For those of you who have known me for any length of time, you should be aware that I am generally a very happy and friendly person. I really enjoy meeting new people and having fun-filled adventures. I believe that laughter is one of the healthiest things you can use to cope with any unpleasant situation. I believe that the world is still filled with magic and wonder, and you can never be finished discovering more new things and new places in life.

That being said, I also believe that the last two years have changed me somewhat. Since I left Augusta and came to D.C., my life has more or less been one never-ending cycle of struggles and disappointments, some of them soul-crushingly so. I don't want to create the impression that I hate my life, because in fact there have been many outstanding and heart-warming moments which have reminded me just how good life can be. Most of the joy that I have experienced as a result of living here has been brought to my life by two young children by the names of Angie and Connor. They're my cousin's kids, and visiting their house has literally been the highlight of my at-times miserable weeks. Catching up with the cousins, and also randomly being pulled into make-believe land by a seven and four year old has done wonderful things for the heart of a guy who is quickly losing his faith in humanity.

I have met enough different people by this point in my life that I can start to assume what certain people will do in any given situation before even they themselves know what they'll do. Humans are generally very predictable creatures once you learn which personality stereotypes they fall under. What I have learned, unfortunately as a result of many of the experiences I've had over the last two years, is that humans as a general rule tend to suck. Obviously that's a generalization, and perhaps a largely unfair one to be honest, but nevertheless it has held unbelievably true for me as I've gone along in life that the more people I meet, the more disappointed by humanity I become.

In any given population, whether it be a city, a neighborhood, or even an office, my general assessment is that roughly ten to twenty percent of them (at best) will be people worth knowing. The middle sixty percent are kind of just there, not really good but not really bad either. The bottom twenty percent are downright bad, and as the rules of society prevent me from slamming their heads into the desk when they aggravate me, I find it's best to simply avoid them at all costs.

Even in my travels all over the world, this rough breakdown still held up relatively consistently across numerous cultures. Some people will welcome you with open arms, others couldn't notice you if they tried, and still others will actively attempt to hurt you, sometimes because they're having a bad day, other times because they simply can. There is a sad truth in life that some people, for whatever reason, simply lost whatever little spark of humanity they were born with, and now are just wild animals.

The Bible says that there is no one righteous, not even ONE person. (Romans 3:10) In Ecclesiastes, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite books of the Bible, Solomon remarks in verse 7:28 that after searching the earth, he found only one upright man among a thousand. While those of us who believe in the truth of the Gospel are all striving to be that one upright man, the fact of our fallen world and our sinful bodies is that we are bound to fail more often than we succeed. I am no better or worse than anyone else. I fail often and sometimes spectacularly, but nevertheless I'm trying my best to be the man that God has called me to be.

Right now, I just want everyone to know that I'm ok. I have done my best these last two years to avoid the bitterness and cynicism that inevitably follows closely on the heels of life's disappointments. I have not always succeeded, but nevertheless I've resolved that in general it is better to smile than to weep.

I'm going to share another video with you now, and this one I believe sums up the nature of life better than anything which I have encountered in recent memory. It is also somewhat profane, so please overlook any words that are irksome to your sensibilities.

Life will sometimes beat you down. I think my various writings have made that point abundantly clear. Nevertheless, we all have a choice as to how we will react to the punishment of life, and that choice is what defines your success or failure as a human being. Choose to laugh as often as possible, and allow yourself to cry when you must. Ultimately, your ability to cope with the bitter, ugly truth of life's misery is what determines the length of your lifespan. Most of the elderly people I've met who lived ample and full years of life were the ones who maintained a happy disposition. Obviously there are exceptions even to that rule, but again, I'm painting with broad brush strokes here.

God gives each of us the strength we need to overcome the adversities which Satan places in our paths. I have learned as a result of my current life experiences that there is unequivocally a war going on between Good and Evil, and our little lives are merely the battleground for forces we will never be able to understand or control on this side of eternity. Don't take it personally when life beats you down. Just give your bitterness and frustrations to the God who sees everything. As he says to us in Isaiah 46:10, he makes known to us the end of all things from the beginning, and from ancient days what is still to come. He exists outside of linear time, and therefore he has already seen all events, people, and things well in advance of when they manifested themselves in the linear timeline.

Trust him. That's the best advice I can give anyone ever. If I were to die tomorrow, and this blog were the only thing I left behind to posterity, then I want everyone to know that you MUST trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, or else none of this crap will ever make sense.

I love you all, assuming you're one of the good ones.

-John-Rick

Self-effacement pays huge dividends to those who are willing to tolerate it. If you can 
forget about yourself (your comfort, your ego, and your agenda) for just a few minutes 
out of every day, then there is no limit to what you can achieve in life. One reason why I 
have struggled so mightily during this deployment, in retrospect, is because I came here 
extremely focused on myself. Being part of any team requires sacrifice, and this concept 
is almost utterly foreign to a generation of people who were raised to believe that they are 
special.

I have complained loudly and often about some of the discomforts and disappointments 
of this last seven months. While I suppose that’s natural, it has ultimately been utterly 
pointless for me to do so. I can’t un-say the things which I’ve said, nor really would I 
want to, since that would be tantamount to sweeping my own imperfections under the 
proverbial rug. Nevertheless, I do believe that now, finally, at the end of deployment, I’m 
coming to the realization that I should have made months ago: it’s not about me.

The good things which we’ve accomplished out here (and there have been several 
successes which I unfortunately can’t discuss) have indeed made an impact on the wider 
world. I may have hated every waking moment of my life while I was accomplishing 
them, but that is one of the fundamental truths of life: nothing meaningful can ever be 
accomplished without significant pain and sacrifice. Whether you’re running a marathon 
or defending your nation, you will invariably experience much more pain while making 
the gallant attempt than what you initially expected.

I was right when I said that this deployment has been very beneficial to me. I have 
learned how the other half of the military lives. The people who don’t have the benefit of 
a cushy stateside office are sacrificing a LOT more for our collective freedom than 
anyone at home. While non-deployers in the military still serve in many valuable support 
roles, they don’t truly know “the struggle.”

I’m ultimately grateful for the opportunity to have come out here. Even though I’d never 
do it again of my own free will, it’s been extremely instructive to me to see just what it 
takes to make the Navy operate effectively in the more remote places of the earth. 
Everyone works. It doesn’t matter if you’re a boatswain’s mate, an engineer, or a candy-
ass shore duty linguist; at some point, everyone has to put some sweat equity into the ship 
in order to keep it running.

I’m still planning to get out. Ten years is more than enough time spent in service to my 
country, and I’d prefer not to give them the full decade of my thirties in addition to my 
already-given decade of my twenties. As I’ve said before, the Navy will continue to grind 
on just fine without me.

You cannot fully appreciate the good things you have in life until you’ve gone without 
them. I thought I understood the words, “duty” and “sacrifice” perfectly well before I 
came here. Yet an intellectual understanding of these words does absolutely no justice to 
their true meaning, especially when there are real people (some of them very good and 
decent folks) pouring their blood, sweat, and tears - and some, their lives - into the hard work which I had previously only studied from a distance.

Paul wrote in Philippians 4 about how he knew what it was to be hungry, and what it was 
to be full. He knew what it was to be in plenty, and what it was to be in want. I empathize 
very much with his feelings now. I know what it is to have a broken Reverse Osmosis 
machine on the ship, which severely limits the ship’s water supply. I know what it is to 
go extended periods of time without being able to shower, do laundry, or even use the 
bathroom because our ship’s operations are more important than the material needs of its 
crew. I know what it is to stand on the forecastle in 100+ degree weather and pull on a 
gnarly, filthy, sea-soaked and heavy rope (we call them “lines” in the Navy world) with 
sweat dripping from every pore in my body for two to three hours just so the ship can 
take on fuel or get underway. Yet like Paul, I have learned the secret to being content in 
all circumstances: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

That has been my message since literally day one of my writing career: Embrace the 
struggle. God’s best tool for growing and developing his children is pain. He is not cruel; 
he simply loves you too much to allow you to live the carefree and insulated life of a 
child forever. Yet even amid the growing and the stretching, he is always there to provide 
comfort and reassurance that ALL things are working out for your good.

Theodore Roosevelt argued at the turn of the last century that Americans were becoming 
soft. He feared, as many people rightly fear nowadays, that the comforts of modern 
convenience and technology were erasing the rugged and independent ethos which had 
enabled Americans of previous generations to conquer their vast and unruly continent. He 
said during a speech to the public, and I quote:

Embrace the strenuous life. That is God’s message for all of us. Whatever your individual 
struggles may be, whether physical, emotional, financial, or all of the above, God is 
deeply concerned for your well-being. Even when he gives you trials and tribulations, 
he’s promised in his Word that he will be with you always, and he will never leave you 
nor forsake you.