“Junk on a Bunk”...the Wayfarer...12/6/13

“Junk on a Bunk”
12/6/13

“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

(Hebrews 10:2)

Today we go to Hebrews for our scripture; once again the writings of Paul provide both warnings and advice to the believer and hope to all who would listen.

Once again, the title comes not from scripture, but from past experience as I attempt to get Paul’s point across to the same folks he addressed, through the use of examples from my own life.

“Junk on a Bunk” is a term readily recognized by those who have served in the uniform of my country, often dreaded by young soldiers, including this now older one.

It referred to the inevitable inspection of everything issued by the army to assure that those things issued were being kept in order.

In 1977, myself, and the army had an amicable legal separation for a short while.

Just prior to that discharge I withstood the rigorous inspection of many Officers and NCO’s to include the usual Junk on the Bunk inspections.

Somewhere in my collection of old photographs there is a picture of what, at the time taken was to be my last Junk on the Bunk ordeal, conducted by those well-meaning folks, who never made clear to a youngster the reason for the efforts of displaying my socks and underwear, clothing, and equipment that had been issued.

This included clothing I did not wear, preferring a different type of underwear than that issued.

For the most part it seemed to me to be an exercise in futility, a whitewashing of the sepulcher, so to speak…eye wash to impress those doing the inspection requiring an inordinate amount of effort for no reason other than to impress and satisfy the wishes of those in charge and to admit to the authority they held.

As it turned out, it was far from the last of these inspections stood, both from the perspective of the inspected and the inspector.

It was not until late in my career that I was finally exposed to an old Sergeant major who hated this ritual as much as I did.

One of the best leaders I ever learned from, when the semiannual inspection came to term, he informed us that there would be no junk on the bunk!

Rifles were inspected in the arms room where they were held, and equipment was to be inspected in a different manner than usual.

That equipment was normally stored in the trailers used to transport it, so that there was no need for it to be dragged from storage if we needed to move quickly.

He went with us to the motor pool and had us open our trailers, and pull out the equipment of, not all, but random soldiers from the various squads that belonged to me.

His concern, as well as my own, was that the equipment was actually there and serviceable if needed.

Pretty layout and alignment did not count.

That inspection resulted in the respect for the man far more than any I saw given to most others, because He cared about the welfare of his people.

I had one soldier, who despite the care and guidance given him by my squad leader and myself as platoon sergeant was a disappointment in what was and was not in his “war bag”.

Pogey-bait and various comfort items, too numerous to enumerate were discovered, while the attention to maintenance of what was required was minimal at best.

Later, back at the tool room, I took both squad leader and soldier to task in what I thought to be a private session and let them understand in language impossible to miscomprehend, exactly what I thought about the lack of preparation and care for the welfare of that soldier in the event of deployment.

I was well into my tirade when I notice the presence of a fourth individual in the room, calmly drinking coffee that I was known to keep brewing constantly… No other than that same Sergeant Major, who informed me that I was a crusty old noncom and had a great laugh at the results of that tirade!

“OK preacher, what is your point?”

When we are born, we are issued a life and the equipment of both body and soul required to get through that life.

Few take the time to inspect that equipment, and fewer still take the time to maintain it, preferring instead the “comfort items” and pogey-bait offered in its place.

When the bag is full of those items and the required equipment is discarded for it, it endangers both the body and soul issued at birth.

Constant inspection is required…not by any other human being, but by yourself…as well as the ongoing daily inspection made by God himself.

Paul’s point was that all the eyewash of the law did not suffice to completely prepare the soul for its eventual meeting with God, but the blood sacrifice of a savior, if accepted did.  Once more I ask the reader to do a little reading on you own, rather than regurgitate the entire scripture.

I also ask the reader to do an inspection of the issued equipment, and to do the required maintenance…through prayer and seeking the guidance of that scripture made available to all willing to only open the Bible and heed the guidance to be found throughout its pages.

If the inspection is properly done, all of the eyewash is no longer a necessity, and all the pogey-bait is discerned and removed to allow the room needed for the things that really matter!

I close as always, nothing more than this same simple sinner, saved by grace through faith in my Lord and Master, a soldier still in His service as long as He allows.

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

AMEN and AMEN
the Wayfarer