Good Morning Warriors and beloved families, A special Visual Spiritual experience on defeating your giant/s! Lectio — Read / GazeLook slowly at the image. Let your eyes rest where they are drawn.What do you notice first? The soldier’s posture? The weight of the chains? The colors bleeding like tears across the canvas?Breathe. Let the scene speak without words. Meditatio — Reflect In the ancient story, Goliath mocked, threatened, and paralyzed an entire army with his size and taunts. Today the giant wears a different face: intrusive thoughts that won’t relent, memories that replay without mercy, anxiety that towers larger each night, shame that whispers “you are broken beyond repair,” despair that says “this will never end.”The chains are not literal iron — they are shame, isolation, hypervigilance, survivor’s guilt, the afterimage of trauma, the exhaustion of carrying what no one else can see.And yet… the soldier is still standing.Not charging. Not fleeing. Simply present. Hand to helmet. Eyes perhaps lifted toward something beyond the frame.David did not win because he was the strongest or tallest. He won because he remembered who God is — and who he was in God.What if the greatest act of courage right now is not slaying the giant in one clean stone, but refusing to run from the field? Oratio — Respond / PraySpeak to God from your heart. You may use these words or your own: Lord of the brokenhearted,You who met David in the quiet before the battle, meet me here in this unseen war.These chains feel heavier than any ruck I’ve ever carried.They tell me I am defeated, unworthy, alone.But You see what no helmet can hide. You name what no chain can redefine.Give me the faith of a shepherd boy who knew his God was bigger.Not to pretend the giant isn’t real —but to trust You are more real still.Loosen what binds.Strengthen what remains.Let me stand — even if only to stand —knowing the battle is Yours.Amen. Contemplatio — Rest / AbideNow simply be with God. No words necessary.Let the image hold you.Let the chains be seen — and let them be held in the gaze of the One who breaks every yoke. Rest here as long as you wish.

As we observe Ash Wednesday and enter the season of Lent, how has your experience in service shaped your understanding of repentance and renewal? In what ways might seeking spiritual direction help you navigate personal ‘battles’ of the soul, drawing from the discipline and resilience you’ve built as a veteran?