Newport Navalog

SHARLAIN R
Pin A Medal On Me
By Chaplain V. E. Sundt

All of us at some time would like to be singled out for special mention, for praise, or just a simple word of encouragement.

In the course of a Naval career one sees a good many men awarded commendations for outstanding performance or heroic action in time of danger. But riding calmly at a mike in Narragansett Bay, or an oiler proceeding leisurely toward a destroyer nest, hardly suggest the countless responsible tasks going on within the hull of each ship. Yet human lives are dependent on the proper twist of a valve or the accurate reading of a gauge. There are plenty of anonymous heroes who never get a medal, or even a mention.

My children have lately been making elaborately colored, over-size paper medals and commendation ribbons. My wife and I have been surprised to find one stuck to the kitchen wall or pasted to the bedroom door on retiring one night, "First prize in cooking For that good supper". or "First prize for fixing that radiator". or "First prize for being a good Mommy". Some of these with their misspellings and art work are among the littler treasures of life. You might say it's the children's way of letting us know we are "on target". We are appreciated! Yet quite apart from their value as keepsakes, these little reminders fulfill a very fundamental human need: to know that our routine and hum-drum tasks meet with appreciation on the part of others when they are well done.

The practice of a personal faith does this for the inner man, even when his superior, job or station in life does not. "Blessed is the man who endureth temptation for he shall receive the crown of life." No one will pin a medal on you for that battle in this life, and yet we all fight it constantly. By taking your problems in prayer to Him, you will win for yourself an inner security, and that joy and peace of heart that comes from knowing you are in his care. The Lord's Commendatory, Mast never secures.