Paul, therefore, prescribes the best antidote against your sinking down under the pressure of afflictions, when he places in opposition to them that future blessedness which is laid up for thee in heaven. (Col. 1:5.) For this comparison makes that light which previously seemed heavy, and makes that brief and momentary which seemed of boundless duration. John Calvin and John Pringle, Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 212.

In combat we do not rise to the occasion, we fall to the level of our training. The uninitiated think shooting is easy, but there is a science and an art to it.

Fifty yards behind U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith, one hundred wounded American soldiers were lying on stretchers inside an unarmored medical aid station with only handguns to defend themselves. Coming straight toward them were one hundred Iraqi Republican Guard soldiers armed with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, and automatic rifles. On April 4, 2003, at Baghdad International Airport, Smith and sixteen soldiers were building a holding pen when the enemy launched a massive ambush from both sides and a watchtower above. Within minutes, the supporting Bradley fighting vehicle ran low on ammunition and took battle damage, and three soldiers inside Smith's M113 armored personnel carrier were badly wounded by gunfire and shrapnel. After dragging the wounded men to safety and throwing a grenade to slow the first wave, Smith saw the enemy flanking the wall toward the medical station. If that wall fell, one hundred helpless wounded Americans would be slaughtered on their stretchers. Why did Smith climb onto the exposed roof of a damaged M113 armored carrier instead of fighting from behind cover? Because on an M113 carrier, the heavy .50-caliber Browning machine gun is mounted externally on top of the hatch. You cannot aim it or reload its ammunition boxes from inside the armor. Even worse, an enemy rocket had set the armored carrier's engine compartment on fire, meaning the vehicle could explode beneath his feet at any second. Smith did not step off that burning vehicle. Ordering a private to back the smoking M113 right into the breach while he stayed in the open turret, Smith grabbed the handles of the .50-caliber machine gun in the direct crossfire of enemy snipers in the watchtower. With flames roaring behind his back and bullets sparking off the aluminum hull, another soldier lying inside passed up three heavy steel boxes of .50-caliber ammunition. Smith fired nearly four hundred rounds, single-handedly breaking the assault and killing up to fifty enemy soldiers before a final bullet struck his neck. Every single one of the one hundred wounded Americans in the aid station lived. He was the first soldier in the Iraq War to be awarded the Medal of Honor. A shield does not move when the fire starts.

In postmodern trauma theory, “all attempts at rational understanding and representation are considered blasphemous.” Anne Rothe, “Irresponsible Nonsense” (2016)

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I know I’ve heard something eerily similar. Labels as weapons

Would Jesus embraced the polyvagal theory?

This may come as a shock to many: “Dr. Charles Hodges @runningdoc , a physician and biblical counselor, warns, "Not every study will have a good design or be well conducted, and the researcher's biases can sometimes influence the interpretation of data."”